I’m sure anyone reading this is far too sensible for the phrase ‘straight pride’ to have ever passed their lips, but I was thinking about how ignorant and uncompassionate the sentiment behind this statement truly is. I think part of the danger with our generation is that we take Pride, and at least a certain level of mainstream acceptance, for granted when it is actually an incredibly recent development. Even I find it hard to remember that when I was in the first half of senior school ‘gay’ was used as a generalised insult for literally anything, and the fact that if a boy even looked in the mirror for too long his nickname would be a homophobic slur for the rest of the year. It is hard to believe that it has only been thirty years since the start of the AIDS epidemic which was initially met with onslaughts of homophobic hatred and judgement from the public and media. This isn’t to say that all the problems have now been solved, even just focusing on England we have far to go in terms of trans acceptance for example, but more to illustrate that Pride is not a commercial indulgence of narcissism, but still a subversive and defying celebration against years of erasure and oppression. So happy Pride to the LGBTQ+ community, and I hope you all enjoy my editor’s picks for this week.
What is non-binary? by Lily Webber
Meeting Point: review by Ava Siena
‘The Tent on the Racecourse’: Durham city’s new Covid-save entertainment space by Livia Dove-Woods
Visiting the Baltic centre for contemporary art by Konstantina Votsika
Chechnya & Dagestan: Russia’s forgotten republics by Will Guy
Image: Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash