Words by Joseph Galliano-Doig MBE
Design by Chyna Sudbury

“We marched during the day,” Mark Segal, an iconic veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, once told me, “so we could dance in the evening… so we could march during the day.”

To me, this is a perfect encapsulation of how our movement’s politics have always been best conducted. We build community, we draw collective lines in the sand. We lift our voices, and we demand the right to dance. We get angry. We have fun.

Pride is a protest, yes, but that protest has historically and beautifully been wrapped up in partying. The two are not mutually exclusive, they work together. We celebrate to survive, and we dance to remember exactly why we are fighting. It energises, it inspires.

There is no doubt that it has been a deeply challenging couple of years for LGBTQ+ people across the UK and globally. After years of making great progress towards liberation, progress doesn’t feel so baked in. 

We have seen relentless political and systemic attacks on some of our most vulnerable community members, an emboldened far right, swingeing funding cuts and a hostile media environment. We are living through shifting, profoundly uncertain times, and it can feel as though we are surrounded by peril.

But history teaches us that when we are challenged, we do not shrink. Instead we gather, we make noise, and we build community. If ever there was a time for the transformative power of partying, it is now. 

Following this time-honoured tradition, Stonewall, our most vital lobbying group, is hosting their highly anticipated Summer Party, challenging this heavy political climate and raising much-needed funds while they do it.