What Pride means to HR Manager, Chris Coates
For Pride Month, we talked to our Human Resources and Support Services Manager, Chris Coates about what Pride means to him as a gay man, and as a manager at Leeds Heritage Theatres.
Written by Chris Coates
History of Pride
LGBTQ+ Pride is celebrated in June, as this is when the Stonewall riots took place – a landmark event in the campaign for equal rights.
In 1960s America, being gay was classified as a mental illness, and sexual acts between same-sex partners were illegal in all states except Illinois. Gay people were subject to frequent victimisation from police and were shunned and abused by many in society, therefore often found sanctuary in gay bars and clubs where they could socialise and express themselves freely. However, these bars were subject to frequent police raids.
On 28 June 1969, for the second time that week, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located in Greenwich Village in New York City. Fed up with harassment and victimisation, the community fought back against the arrests and violent treatment from the police, and the raid sparked a riot, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement.
The Stonewall riots became a symbol of resistance. Although the event did not initiate the gay rights movement, it was a key turning point. News of the riots spread around the world, and this inspired others to join protests and rights groups to fight for equality. On the anniversary of the riots, the first Pride marches took place, and eventually, these one-day celebrations turned into an entire month of Pride.
What are Pride events?
June sees several Pride events. The LGBTQIA+ community recognises June as our Pride month (although some LGBTQIA+ Pride events take place at other times, such as Leeds LGBTQ+ Pride in July). It’s also Neurodiversity Pride on 16 June, and Autistic Pride Day on 18 June.
Finding the right language can be hard, and people’s views differ, but for me, Pride events are about (self-)affirmation, dignity, and increased visibility. People who choose to celebrate any Pride event are showing pride in one aspect of themselves. Pride events can include some element of messaging or protest too, but the core meaning is in the title ‘Pride’; they are about being proud of an identity.
Pride events are for groups who are often in a minority. Those people are not always immediately identifiable to each other. There can be joy in finding others who you have something in common with, in seeing the diversity within that group of people, and in standing with others who celebrate those things too.
I’m not one for crowds but there is something rather wonderful about the sheer noise and enthusiasm of people lining the streets to support an LGBTQ+ event; it is a nice counterpoint to the continual homophobia, transphobia, and other anti-LGBTQIA+ slurs that drip out through a year.
Pride events show that people are happy to identify with those parts of themselves, and that can help start conversations to understand each other better. Pride events aren’t for educating people outside the group (we have awareness days for that and we HR folk love a good awareness day!), but sometimes a respectful and genuine question like, ‘What brings you to a Neurodiversity Pride event?’ can be the start of an enlightening chat.
What does Pride mean to staff at Leeds Heritage Theatres?
Pride events aren’t for everyone, of course, but, rather like people’s favourite films or stage shows, it is a personal choice. If someone enjoys something and it’s not harming anyone else, let’s not knock it just because it doesn’t fit our personal preferences. As we say at Leeds Heritage Theatres: ‘Be kind. Each of us has different and unique life experiences. Look out for one another, and treat people with kindness, compassion and empathy.’.
What does any of that have to do with a theatre or cinema?
I’ve worked in theatre for about 10 years, but I’ve attended theatre for as long as I can remember. The arts mean you can engage with stories of both people who are like you and people who are entirely different from you in their experiences, attitudes, and outlooks. It’s that chance to empathise with someone you’d never have thought was ‘like you’ that is one of the most awesome powers of the arts.
“We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”, Jo Cox said in her maiden speech to Parliament. Seeing people in more of their infinite complexity and difference can remind us of this; difference doesn’t have to be divisive. Ironically, one of the things we have in common is, as Brian says in Monty Python’s Life of Brian, “You’re all individuals… You’re all different.”
Theatres and cinemas should be for everyone. We should all be different. We are all different, and we should celebrate those differences. So, Happy Pride to everyone who takes part in a Pride event.
