Pride Month: Visibility, Safety and the Right to Belong

Pride Month is often seen through colour, celebration and parades, but at its heart, Pride has always been about something much deeper: visibility, dignity and the right to live safely as yourself.

For imabi, Pride Month is about safer communities that inclusive communities. It is not enough for places to be open to everyone in theory. People need to feel that they can participate, travel, socialise, study, work and ask for help without fear of judgement, harassment or harm.

Pride is celebration.
Pride is history.
Pride is a call to action.

Where Pride Began

Pride Month is marked in June because of the Stonewall uprising in New York in June 1969, a defining moment in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. In the UK, the first official Pride march took place in London on 1 July 1972, inspired by Stonewall and organised by LGBTQ+ activists including the Gay Liberation Front and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.

That first UK Pride was not just a celebration. It was an act of visibility at a time when many LGBTQ+ people faced open discrimination, fear and exclusion. Learn more here.

Today, Pride events across the UK are bigger, more visible and more widely supported, but the reason Pride exists still matters: people should not have to hide who they are to feel safe.

Gay Liberation Front list of demands, made in November 1970, London Museum

Why Pride Still Matters Today

Progress has been real...

• Laws have changed

• Representation has improved

• More people feel able to talk openly about identity, relationships and belonging

BUT: visibility does not automatically equal safety.

Home Office hate crime statistics for England and Wales continue to show that sexual orientation and transgender identity remain recorded hate crime strands, with 2024/25 data reporting changes across those categories while also acknowledging wider trends across hate crime reporting.

Stonewall has also highlighted that, over a five-year period, police-recorded hate crime based on sexual orientation rose by 20% and trans identity hate crime rose by 50%, while LGBTQ+ hate crime charity Galop reported a 60% increase in LGBTQ+ hate crime victims seeking support in 2024.

Behind every statistic is a person:

• Someone who changed how they dressed

• Someone who avoided holding hands

• Someone who took a longer route home

• Someone who decided not to report what happened

• Someone who learned to make themselves smaller in public

Safety Is About More Than Crime

When we talk about LGBTQ+ safety, it is easy to focus only on serious incidents, but many experiences sit below the threshold of formal reporting and still have a lasting impact.

It might be:

• staring or verbal abuse on public transport

• feeling unsafe leaving a venue

• avoiding certain places at night

• online abuse or harassment

• not knowing whether support services will be understanding

• feeling unsure where to report something

These experiences affect confidence - they affect movement, and they affect whether people feel able to take part in everyday community life.

Pride and Public Spaces

Pride Month also reminds us that public spaces should feel safe and welcoming for everyone.

That includes:

• high streets

• public transport

• parks

• workplaces

• schools and colleges

• nightlife spaces

• events and festivals

Many Pride events take place in busy town and city centres, often involving large crowds, travel, late finishes and people moving between venues. Safety planning is important, but so is everyday reassurance.

That can mean:

• knowing how to report concerns

• sharing your journey with someone you trust

• checking in with friends

• knowing where local support is available

• finding nearby safe spaces or trusted services

• feeling confident to leave a situation that does not feel right

Pride should feel joyful and it should also feel safe.

How Communities and Organisations Can Show Real Support

A rainbow logo is not enough on its own. Real support looks like action:

• making reporting routes clear and accessible

• training staff to respond appropriately to LGBTQ+ concerns

• listening to lived experience before designing safety campaigns

• challenging harassment and discrimination consistently

• making support services visible all year round

• working with LGBTQ+ organisations and local community groups

• ensuring public safety messaging includes LGBTQ+ people without tokenism

For councils, venues, transport providers, schools, employers and community organisations, Pride Month is an opportunity to ask: are LGBTQ+ people not only represented, but genuinely considered in our safety planning?

Practical Tips for Pride Month

Whether you are attending a Pride event, supporting someone else or simply reflecting on what inclusion means, small actions matter.

If you are attending Pride or a local event:

• plan your journey there and back

• keep your phone charged

• agree a meeting point with friends

• know where event staff, stewards or support points are

• trust your instincts if something feels uncomfortable

• report concerns if it is safe to do so

If you are an ally:

• listen more than you speak

• challenge harmful language when you hear it

• avoid assuming someone’s identity or experience

• share trusted support resources

• remember that allyship matters beyond June

If you are an organisation:

• make inclusion visible in practical ways

• review whether reporting routes are genuinely accessible

• involve LGBTQ+ voices in safety planning

• support staff and service users consistently

• treat Pride as part of ongoing safeguarding, not a one-month campaign

Everyone deserves to move through the world with confidence.

Everyone deserves access to support.

Everyone deserves to belong.

imabi platform enables that.

Technology cannot replace human care, allyship or frontline services, but it can help make support more visible, accessible and easier to reach.