As part of the Cardiff Pride: More Than A Month campaign, we attended Pride Cymru in Cardiff and spoke to young people about all things LGBTQ+ related. This blog shares their answers to the question ‘what does pride mean to you?’.
Pride means being yourself
Lizzie, 22 – It’s a celebration! We get to celebrate the fact that we’re all able to be who we are.
Nova, 19 – I suppose it’s just a nice chance to be yourself.
Jess, 18 – Well, Pride is just like where people can be themselves and no one has to like pretend to be anything that they’re not.
Toby, 15 – People can meet up and be themselves without worrying about things.
Mal, 18 – It means quite a lot because I feel like I can just express myself without being judged.
Darcey, 23 – A chance to be able to express yourself when during everyday you can’t.
Carenza, 20 – To me, Pride is just a private space full of acknowledgement and acceptance where you can learn so much stuff and just be safe with who you are.
Pride means inclusivity and community
Tezni, 23 – Being able to celebrate not just Pride for hearing people, not just Pride for seeing people – but Pride for everyone.
Avery, 19 – This being my first Pride, I really didn’t know what to expect but it’s such a welcoming environment, I really think that’s what Pride is meant to embody – a safe space for everyone whether you’re part of the LGBTQ community or are merely just an ally. It’s a place where you can come and just appreciate everyone for who they are no matter what and that’s just great.
Maddie, 16 – The community coming together. Like LGBT [people] and allies to come together and be themselves. And to meet friends and stuff. I’m a non-binary person. I’ve been bullied for 5 years in high school for being myself and Pride is just a nice place to be.
Chris, 18 – Help the younger generation accept themselves from a young age so they don’t have to suffer like we did figuring out who we are and how we feel.
Abi, 23 – As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s very important for me because I get to be around people who are part of my community and I feel safe and accepted.
Pride means reflecting on progress
Wren, 16 – [I’m proud of] how far the community has come since the movement started like ages ago.
Lily, 16 – How we’ve managed to change and get rights. It’s not all great but it’s getting better.
Echo, 20 – I think it’s a really cool example of like queer liberation and like how far we’ve come. Pride is still a protest and it still should be a protest, but it kind of shows [progress] from the original movement when you actively had the police fighting you every step of the way. Whereas [now] you could have like a more chill area where it’s safer for us, and children are able to be here without danger of violence – I think that’s really cool.
Ffion, 15 – I think it’s mainly important to celebrate the history and the successes that we’ve gotten over the years – you know, there’s a lot!
Toby, 15 – For me it represents how far we’ve come with equality and how far we’ve come with accepting other people. It’s amazing to be able to learn about the history and celebrate how far we have come.
Pride means celebrations and joy
Ron, 22 – It means a lot of glitter everywhere. I think it’s just the best place to be.
Sarah, 30 – I’ve never seen a big Pride like this, so it means that more people are gay which is great. Everyone’s really happy. Everyone’s in a good mood. Everyone looks amazing.
Tess, 22 – It’s such a good time to just party, like no worries. Just all fun as it should be. It’s great.
Chloe, 21 – Pride for me I think is important because it’s about the celebrating side of things. There’s been so much fighting and so much campaigning that I think all of that can just get really tiring after a while. Let’s just get all together and have a bit of fun.
Lizzie, 22 – It’s a celebration of the fact that we’re all free and liberated. It’s great. It’s a good time.
Tezni, 23 – Pride means just celebrating everyone and everything because no matter who you are or how you identify, you should be proud and should be able to celebrate that.
Pride means fighting for equality and rights
Mollie, 22 – I feel like Pride is about letting the people that are out there that hate us that we’re not going anywhere.
Chris, 18 – Introducing different concepts to people who might not have heard of [being LGBTQ+] before.
Ffion, 15 – With different countries kind of going backwards, it is really important that we have this to kind of show that we are going forwards, and we are going to continue going forwards no matter what.
Related Information
Want more from the Cardiff Pride: More Than A Month campaign? Visit the campaign introduction.
Check out TheSprout’s LGBTQ+ information page where you can find loads of useful info on local and national LGBTQ+ support services.
If you’re sharing our posts from the Cardiff Pride: More Than A Month campaign on social media, remember to use the #MoreThanAMonth hashtag and tag us.