​We are proud!

In celebration of Pride Month, we asked some of you, our DIY-Dyers who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community to tell us what pride means to them…⁠

   

First up @pinksuitsband

Pride and Queer culture is something that we believe should be celebrated all year round and consistently. Whilst we do a lot of work around Pride season, and we really see the importance of having specific events around Pride and the Anniversary of The Stonewall Riots, to remember our history and celebrate our culture, we think it is an important time to establish a wider sense of community and commitment that should sustain all year round. We are invested in celebrating Queer culture and creating safe and celebratory space that exists for the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the year. Pride for us has always been a wonderful moment in the year to re connect with our wider Queer community in the present, reflect on our past and commit to further supporting each other in our future.

We are pink suits! As in "pink suits everyone!" We always wear pink (usually pink suits, as the name implies) and very early on as a band we dyed our hair pink and have been dying it ever since. We have been through every hairstyle going in the last 6 years and every shade of pink. Now it feels like there is no alternative. Pink feels like our natural hair colour now and we cant imagine having it any other way. When we are onstage, fully dressed in pink and hair dyed pink we feel like our favourite version of ourselves.

We have many, many versions of ourselves and we have carved out spaces in our life and within our relationship where we can fully express all of these versions of ourselves! When we play punk music together we feel like we are truly expressing that side of ourselves that is raging and frustrated about everything in politics and society that we feel is unjust and wrong with the world. When we are running or attending Queer club nights and events we are able to truly express ourselves Queer people that are part of a loving, caring and open community. When we have been on tour for weeks and weeks and we get home we are truly able to express ourselves within our relationship about how tired we are and need a movie day! It has not always been this way but we have come to a place where we are always truly expressing ourselves.

Our biggest and favourite weekend of the year is always Margate Pride, which is actually in August but is the most important weekend in our Queer calendar! This Pride season we are going to be performing at a big Pride event with one of our favourite artists... but we cant talk any more about that yet... but keep an eye out, we are very excited! Is there anything we should be drawing attention to or highlighting in our campaigns? We are bringing back our Queer Cuntry event this year, doing a massive takeover of The Southbank's Riverside Stage on Saturday 22nd June for Chaka Khans Meltdown Festival. But we will be coming back fully in November with big Queer Cuntry club nights on November 15th in Margate at Olbys Creative Hub and November 29th in London at Signature Brewery. That gives everyone plenty of time to get planning those Queer Cuntry outfits ready for a wild night of live music, cabaret, dancing and games.

    

@georgiadianaviolet what does pride and the celebration of queer culture mean to you?

Embracing and honouring our authentic selves, without fear or shame. It's a powerful reminder of the progress we've made in the fight for equality and the ongoing struggle for acceptance and rights. Celebrating queer culture is about recognising the diverse experiences, histories, and contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals, fostering a sense of community, and advocating for a world where everyone can live freely and safely.

Colouring my hair is a form of self-expression. It's a way to showcase my personality, creativity, and individuality. Changing my hair colour allows me to show different aspects of who I am and how I feel. It’s a statement of pride in my uniqueness, it is art and a celebration of the freedom to be myself.

I feel incredibly fortunate to work in creative industries where I'm surrounded by people who encourage me to be myself. Honestly, I always feel most myself with fresh hair. It's always been transformative for me, ever since I was a teen. Nothing beats the feeling of freshly dyed hair. BLISS.

I recently visited Gran Canaria for Pride, which was my first Pride abroad! Sun, sea and Drag Queens. It was UNREAL.I always make the most of all the local events here in Glasgow but, I do have a Pride bucket list and I’m trying to visit Pride events around the world! So far, I’ve ticked off Glasgow, Manchester, London, and Gran Canaria! I’d love to do Brighton next!

  

@therealbanksie what does Pride and the celebration of Queer culture mean to you?

It is a protest, especially currently in the world that we have in the UK political sphere that we are living in. Being a Queer person is becoming more and more difficult. I think especially for our trans and non-binary siblings. I think that living in a day to day life and be unapologetically ourselves is becoming incredibly difficult.

And basically put a big middle finger up to the establishment that doesn’t want us here and I think that hair colour has an amazing addition to that because it allows you to evidently stand and say I do not follow what you want me to follow I am going against the grain and I am not wearing my flat brown hair I am wearing my gorgeously coloured bright red hair!

Why do you colour your hair?

Brass tax- I have had bright red Crazy Color hair for 4 or 5 years

I did it because I like the colour red but I am someone who wants to be seen! In this world you don’t live forever and I would like to be known as that person with the bright red hair that brightened everyone’s day. And I think it is about being visible and that’s what I love about my red hair, being visible.

@ruthmartinartist

Pride to me is rebellion, defiance, freedom and protest. Of course it is a celebration for those who can now live freely to express themselves, but also, it’s a fight for those Queer people and communities who are still fighting oppression, who are unable to be accepted or loved as they are or to safely live in the world. Pride will always be a protest and a riot in my eyes. No one is free until we all are free! I am eternally grateful for the work of Marsha P Johnson and other Black, Trans Women and Trans People of Colour who fought for what we have today.

I have been colouring my hair since I was 12. It started as a “dip dye” just on the ends for the summer holiday, and I promised my parents I’d never dye my hair again… 12 years later I have only seen my natural hair colour twice in those years! I always joke that my natural hair colour is pink, as it just feels like who I am and dying my hair is a way of showing my personality. A lot of people stare at me due to being a wheelchair user, so having colourful hair makes them focus on something else! I also use the exact colour of pink to represent my identity in all my paintings.

I remember dating my first girlfriend and feeling the most “me” I’d ever felt. I love the fact I am an out and proud non-binary lesbian, with friends who support and love me. I love the community of Queer and Trans people, I feel so myself with them, especially when they’re Disabled too.

I am not going to any Pride events this year as they are not accessible to me personally due to my disabilities, but my life is full of pride and I feel it every day in the chosen family I have found and the way we continue to live and fight by the values that characterised the first Pride marches ?❤️

Being able to be “out” as Queer is a true privilege. I was a terrified teenager before I came out, scared of even acknowledging the fact I was feeling these feelings. When I came out, apparently the closet was glass and everyone else knew, but it took me a while to accept who I was and to be ready to show the world. It’s not always easy as there’s a lot of queerphobia and in particularly transphobia which occurs in the world at the moment, with trans people being the scapegoat of so many things - completely unfairly. I also have a unique experience of being Queer and Disabled, which is a whole other community and identity I proudly share.

@postman_pete_

I love the inclusiveness and openness of every one gathering together to just celebrate whoever you are, no judgement. Pride should still have a protest element with it, as there are still struggles every day with in the queer community, here are across the globe and we need to stand against those who are promoting homophobia and queerphobia...

I don’t colour my hair, but I colour my beard with Crazy Color… I love just being a little different and why shouldn’t men colour their beards. At the moment it is pink, and has really been pink since going to see the Barbie movie last year, but it has been many colours over the years. I am going to try and do a little rainbow flag for London Pride this year, I need to do some planning for this project...

When you’re with your tribe, around people who know you and you trust you can truly be yourself. To be honest I have been down a long path and have learnt the hard way perhaps and now I am at a stage in life where the most important thing is that I am happy. You need to make yourself happy, because you only get one today so don’t hold back!