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Pride month offers an essential moment to celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities. It prompts us to reflect on the rich history of queer culture, as well as more recent global advances made in the realm of civil liberties. Though as the COVID-19 pandemic continues and global Pride celebrations align with the movement for racial justice, many queer individuals are navigating greater risks to their health, safety and livelihoods.
Aware of the need to stay connected and elevate queer voices, we’re sharing video content from friends of the Whitechapel Gallery, Sculpture in the City, and an extract from the QUEER Documents of Contemporary Art publication, written by artist Carlos Motta on the occasion of his exhibition, Museum as Hub: Carlos Motta: We Who Feel Differently at the New Museum in New York.
We Who Feel Differently: A Manifesto (2012)
Carlos Motta, ‘We Who Feel Differently: A Manifesto (2012). Originally produced as a take away poster for the exhibition ‘Museum as Hub: Carlos Motta: We Who Feel Differently’ (New York: New Museum of Contemporary Art, 2012).
Commissioned by Sculpture in the City in collaboration with our annual late-night contemporary arts festival, Nocturnal Creatures in 2019, artist Guillaume Vandame shares documentation of his performative piece, Notice Me (LGBTQIA+ Walk).
Notice Me invited participants from the LGBTQIA+ community and queer allies to join for a peaceful walk in the City of London exploring a selection of sculptures on display along the way. Participants were invited to dress in one of seven colours and together formed a rainbow.
In the artist’s words, “Notice Me was about creating an urgent and vital presence for people from the LGBTQIA+ community who feel like they don’t have a presence or belong, whether that’s among friends or family, society, or even within our own community.” One year later with the postponement of Pride marches everywhere or taking alternative forms, Notice Me has renewed importance and vitality.
For those who are looking to educate themselves and further their authentic allyship this Pride Month, below is a list of LGBTQIA+ organisations that offer their support and need it too. This is a working directory – please feel free to reach out to us with further suggestions.
LGBTQIA+ organisations to support:
Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative
Black Aids Institute
The Transgender District
LGBTQ Freedom Fund
House of GG
Trans Justice Funding Project
The Okra Project
Youth Breakout
The Marsha P. Johnson Institute
SW Emergency Mutual Aid Fund
Black LGBTQIA+ Therapy Fund
Black and Pink
National Black Justice Coalition
Brave Space Alliance
Black trans protesters emergency fund
Help Fund A Black Queer Owned Community Space
