Oxford University Press reflects on the various events they hosted this Pride month

Throughout the month of June, the Oxford University Press LGBTQ+ Network hosted (or co-hosted) a range of events for our colleagues across the Press. From author talks and panel discussions, to socials and film viewings, each week we held events that aimed to create space to celebrate our global community and lift the voices of those that may not often be heard.

These events gave us the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from across and outside of the Press. Our first event, an author talk with some of the contributors from Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, was organised with the New York Social Committee. Another event, a lecture on disability, queerness, and intersectionality given by Sarah Stephenson-Hunter, was co-hosted with the OUP Disability Network. For our final event, we even had the opportunity to connect and collaborate with colleagues from outside of our organization—from LGBTQ+ Networks at other publishers.

For this final event of Pride, we joined colleagues from Taylor and Francis, Wiley, and Informa for the second Cross-Publisher LGBTQ+ Collective event. It was a panel discussion, with the panel formed from members of the LGBTQ+ networks from each company. I was lucky enough to represent OUP at the event and joined four other colleagues from around the world (England, United States, and Malaysia) to reflect on the history of Pride, what it means to us, and the importance of allyship.

Before we began discussing what Pride means to us, we first posed the question to those attending the event. Asking them to give a few words that highlight what Pride means to them. We had a range of answers, but some words were repeated: community, visibility, and acceptance.

These themes were highlighted in each of the panel members’ own responses too—the importance of connecting to and with our community, of being visible and proud for it, of being accepted by those marching with us or supporting the celebration in their own way.

While many of the panel members (myself included) were able to reflect on Pride in terms of the modern celebrations that we see today (parades and marches) and our own personal experiences of attending or participating in them, the discussion also highlighted the importance of Pride when these events are not available to you. One of the panel members is from Malaysia and shared how Pride events are banned there. As they cannot access in-person events, they talked about how they connect to the community online, finding acceptance and solidarity with those they can safely share their identity with, and taking strength from the visibility that other global events bring to the community.

For many of us in countries where there are more laws protecting the LGBTQ+ community, especially if we have identities that provide us privileges regarding the likelihood of being accepted or perceived positively by the wider community, it can be easy to forget that Pride is not just a celebration of the battles already won.

Pride began as a fight against discrimination and hate towards our community, and the fight is not over. This is true everywhere that members of our community experience discrimination, ostracisation, or are at risk for being themselves. This means countries where we have heard about blanket discrimination against our community, such as Malaysia and Turkey, but also in countries where we may think the fight is mostly won. The United Kingdom and the United States, both places where I have lived as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, are actively attacking the rights and placing members of our community at risk.

If Pride is about community, visibility, and acceptance, then we need to start taking more steps to show up as a community for all of us; to truly accept and fight for everyone, regardless of their identity or where they are from.

We need to embody and celebrate Pride throughout the year, not just in June. If we want to strive towards making our places of work, education, and living, places where everyone can thrive—regardless of identity, gender expression, or ability—then we need to actively work towards it. To do this, we need our allies, our families, friends, and colleagues to help us. We can only truly create lasting change if we are all in this together.

It has been a privilege to connect and work with so many colleagues across the Press this month. To hear from allies and members of our community alike on the steps they are taking to further this fight, and I look forward to future events with the OUP LGBTQ+ Network. Each event is an opportunity to connect with members of our community from around the world; to be loud, proud, and visible for those who can and those who can’t, and to help support the fight for a truly inclusive community that accepts everyone as they are.