Latest news with #QueerVoices
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Cabaret celebrates a century of queer music during Pride festival in Truro, N.S.
Crystal Garrett speaks with one of the performers of the "Rainbow Reveries: Queer Voices for a Queer World," concert in Truro, N.S.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I came out in my 30s, there's no timeframe for figuring out who you are'
Ali Bromley is the 2024 winner of Big Brother UK, making history as the British edition's first ever lesbian victor. The reality star joins Yahoo's Queer Voices to discuss her experience on the series, queer representation in reality TV, and the fight required against ignorance and fear. It felt important while I was in the Big Brother House to share parts of my identity. Part of that was that I'm a late-to-life lesbian, and it took me quite a long time to work out all the aspects of my identity. I was quite open on the show about being married to a man before. It felt important to be open about those experiences because I'm sure that there are people watching who have those experiences, and it's representation that we don't often see. And something that I spoke about on the show is that you can't be what you can't see, and that's what felt important to me. The advice that I would give to young people who are trying to work out parts of their identity, particularly concerning their sexuality, is just to take your time. Don't put any pressure to put a label on yourself and work out exactly where you fit within the queer umbrella. Look for people who look like you, talk like you, act like you, find safe spaces to spend time with other queer people. Never feel under pressure to come out to someone if that's not safe or you don't feel welcome or comfortable. There is no time frame for figuring out who you are. I'm a really good testimony to that. I only came out when I was in my 30s. And also enjoy all aspects of figuring out who you are. It's a really difficult time. We are living in a world where there is increasing pressure from the Right to crack down on the queer community, particularly our trans siblings, and nobody should feel pressured to do anything outside of their own time frames. But the beautiful thing about the LGBTQIA+ community is that we come together really well, and there is some beauty in that coming together, especially in the face of adversity. So be you, be proud and keep going. It's been months since I left Big Brother, and it's been amazing to come out and see the reception that I've received. I've heard from supporters of the show who let me know that seeing somebody who was openly lesbian in the Big Brother house who's spoken about their experiences as a neurodivergent queer person was important for them to feel represented, to be seen on television. And that's felt really incredible because it's something that I didn't have when I was younger growing up. There was no one really like me on television. I also received lots of messages from people from all different age groups saying that because of seeing me on the show they were able to, for example, come out to their parents, their families. They were able to put me on the television and say 'this is who I am, this is somebody who has the same experiences as me'. But I also receive messages from people who are much older, who at the age of 50, for example, were able to come out and start living more authentically as themselves. Big Brother is a show that champions people from the queer community. Obviously, during 2023's Big Brother we had Jordan and Henry, and we were able to watch their romance develop. In my season there was myself, Dean, Dave and Martha who were from the queer community, and more recently in Celebrity Big Brother we've had JoJo Siwa and Danny Beard. This is queer representation that's really important. People from all demographics all within the queer umbrella, reality TV can be a safe space for queer people to be seen, and Big Brother is one of those places. But across the board, usually, on reality TV we're not very visible. It's really important that people from the queer community are seen on reality TV because we're not seen often in other parts of the mainstream media. Reality TV shows allow us to show who we are, they allow us to have conversations about who we are, also they create situations where we're meeting people who don't often meet people like us and that fosters conversation that can lead to learning and lead to understanding. Certainly it was something that I experienced with people writing to me, to the show, saying that it was helpful for them to see a queer person who was normal so they could show that we're just people like everybody else, living our lives, and we have the same experiences as other people. When I was growing up, there wasn't much on television that showed queer people, particularly lesbians. There was The L Word, I think that was the only representation of lesbians when I was a little bit younger, trying to work out who I was and work out my identity. I think, actually, it was the advance in the development of social media that helped me to understand myself and my identity. Because all of a sudden you're being exposed to a whole world of people that you wouldn't necessarily meet in your everyday life. And that's important because it can help you to understand that there are possibilities outside of the heteronormative relationships that are shown ordinarily on mainstream television. When I was growing up, there was a real absence of queer people in the media for me to look up to for role models, but in the present day I'm really inspired by the drag community. So we have our favourites. Danny Beard, Tia Kofi, these people really inspire me because they live so authentically as themselves, and they're able to celebrate parts of themselves that are really beautiful, really artistic, super creative. I think we as queer people are getting more room to share our stories, but again I think it isn't so clear. People are allowed a platform and we are getting spaces to be who we are on television, and Big Brother has always been quite queer as we've discussed. We've got queer dating shows and even on mainstream dating shows you're getting the odd queer couple slip through like on Married at First Sight. But it is in silo, it's not in mainstream TV. There's not that many people, for example, on morning breakfast shows or news shows that are openly queer. So it seems to be that we find our spaces and we sit there, which is fab, and it gives people the opportunity to see us. But I certainly think there is room for improvement, particularly given the current climate in terms of the Supreme Court ruling regarding the definition of a 'woman'. The rulings seem to be backed by ignorance or fear, or even anger and hatred, I think. All we can do is keep donating to charities that are pushing for legal challenges, for example, to the Supreme Court ruling, showing up to protests, sharing information on social media, and then on a smaller level having conversations with our friends and family about the situation. As it stands, there's a very small minority of people that are being scapegoated for a much larger issue, which is male violence towards women, which trans people are not responsible for. So I think there's lots of things that can be done on a wider level, but also on a sort of micro level within families, friends, the conversations that you have — even writing to your local MP and donating to charity.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
25 fantastic images from this year's Stroud Pride event
STROUD Pride celebrated its first march as part of this year's event. The celebration, in its seventh year, took place in the sunshine yesterday, Saturday, June 28. The march made its way through the town, closing Kendrick Street and George Street, before finishing at Bank Gardens for a picnic. At the gardens, there were stalls, speeches and entertainment hosted by Feral Cole and Pandy LeRoux. Performances came from Queer Voices choir, Some Voices choir, Miss Demeanor Mccall, Misty Monique and Carrie Sauce. Stroud MP Simon Opher also stopped by to show his support. Speaking after the event, a spokesperson from Stroud Pride said: "A huge thank you to every person that made today possible. "We pulled off Stroud Pride's first march. "We saw a lot of people come through the park and we helped show every person that Stroud cares." Stroud Pride has been running since 2018 and is entirely volunteer-run. All pictures taken by photographer Simon Pizzey. Kim Baker and Jennifer Quilliam from Rodborough Tabernacle Church at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Misty Monique performed at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Mum Elle and daughter Violet, four, at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Same Voices Choir at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Mum Chloe and Oska, six, at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Pandy Leroux on stage at Stroud Pride. Image: Simon Pizzey Image: Simon Pizzey
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'We need authentic lesbian voices or the film industry won't improve'
Victoria Broom is an actor known for roles in shows like I, Jack Wright and Different For Girls. The actor is also an advocate for the queer community and has been listed as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ people in the UK in The Guardian's Pride Power list. She joins Yahoo UK's Queer Voices to share the importance of activism and why lesbian representation needs to improve. I'm super passionate about lesbian representation on screen in front and behind the camera, and that authentic lesbian representation. I think we've obviously come a long way from where we were. I remember the first time that I ever saw lesbians kiss on screen was in 1993 in Brookside. It was such a massive deal, it was in the newspapers the next day, so that aspect of things has changed. Where I feel we need to improve is having more authentic lesbian voices telling the stories. You really see it with some incredible shows like, for example, It's a Sin, it's written by a queer man, produced by a queer man, and you can feel it in the script and in the series that it's somebody that's lived these experiences. I feel like, for the lesbian community, we're kind of missing that. So that's where I'm hoping we're going to go, is we're going to get a lesbian show written by lesbians for the lesbian community. I did do a show that was quite special in that way, I did Different for Girls which was written by a lesbian, about lesbian experiences, for the lesbian community, and with lesbian actors. So yeah, more of that, more lesbians. The industry has, I feel, always embraced my queerness because I've never been not queer, so I've always lived as my authentic self. I've had that privilege to live as my authentic queer self, so I feel like I've always been embraced with that. I mean, I feel that there are now more queer roles being written, so therefore I'm getting the opportunity to play more queer roles. When I was going to film festivals years ago I got so annoyed that there was no lesbian content. I was like, 'right, this is doing my head in and I just wasn't seeing lesbian stories being told'. So I wrote my own film and I produced my own film and I starred in my own film, and it was a short film and it went on to win awards. That was actually the first time I've played a lesbian character. I had to write it because there wasn't any representation, but actually the first time I played a lesbian character in a way that changed the landscape of my career was Different for Girls. I was so connected to that role, and I feel that does come across in the series, so it meant a lot to me that I was being recognised in my community. It's super important for me to be so vocal for the lesbian community. It's because my little gay heart, when I was growing up in the country with no exposure to lesbianism, queerness, there was nothing, there was nothing out there at all where I could sit back and go 'Oh, that's me'. So that's why I've always been my authentic self. That's why I've always lived my queerness out there, I talk about it, I push for it, and it's because it does change people's lives. And I've had a lot of young queer women contact me, especially when I did Different for Girls, saying that I've absolutely changed their live. That's not why I do it, I do it just because that's just me, that's just who I am, but it makes a difference and it's important. Receiving recognition isn't something I've ever kind of sought, that's not something that you seek. That's just kind of part and parcel of being an actor, but it isn't something that actors seek. But when I have been listed as one of the top most influential gays, it obviously means a lot to me. It means a lot to me just living as who I am and not shying away from that, and being very vocal about lesbian visibility within the media, to be recognised for that. So the major show I felt so connected to, and I didn't know why at the time, was Ellen, Ellen Degeneres' show. It was on Sky at like 9:00pm or 11:00pm at night so I had to stay up really late and watch it. I felt so connected to her, and I wasn't sure why until the puppy episode aired. And then the puppy episode aired and every lesbian on the planet knows that is when Ellen the character, and Ellen herself, came out on the TV show. It was like this like 'oh, now I understand why I felt so connected to her.' It was such a massive moment for my young, queer, lesbian heart. It really was really nice to feel seen. The show I wish I had growing up is Heartstopper. I feel like that series is such queer joy. It's because it just celebrates queerness and the exploration of figuring out your path and who you are. And I wish I had that, it's beautifully done. It's beautifully told. When it comes to my queer role models, Fiona Shaw was also always someone that everybody kind of knew was part of the group. So I used to go and see her a lot at at the National Theatre when she worked with Deborah Warner and saw her perform this gorgeous queer female writing on the stage like. There's still room to improve when it comes to queer representation, absolutely. But how it could improve is that queer characters are coming that are just in the story. For example in Hacks it's just part of the story, it's not made a thing of which I really love because they integrate queer characters into mainstream television. I feel that there is definitely more space and improvement needed for lesbian visibility within the media. And I'm talking about the writing of it in shows like that, I just feel like gay male content is pushed quite hard and, most of the time, cast authentically, and I'm not sure that's the same for lesbians at the moment. It's changing but it needs to improve. With all that's going on in the world at the moment, and how the LGBTQ+ community is being targeted, it affects you, it affects you all. But it's about standing together, I think, uniting. Allies should be more vocal as well, especially actors that have played gay characters, they should speak up more and use their platform a bit more. I think that's why I always shout from the rooftops, really. I think it's important we all feel united. My advice that I would give to queer youth out there would be just love who you are, love the experiences that you have in life. Be you if you can be you. Especially given in the world at the moment it feels like a privilege to be able to live as your authentic self. Just know that your community is there, we're here, we're waiting for you with open arms to accept you into the community and just know you're not alone because you're not.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'We need to protect our trans siblings and be a community more than ever'
Lucy Spraggan rose to fame as a contestant on The X Factor in 2012, she has since become a successful musician in her own right. She joins Yahoo's Queer Voices to discuss her experience as a queer singer in the music industry, why Pride should be a protest again, and her affinity with the transgender community. Her new album Other Sides of the Moon is out now. I think it's important for us to be a community now more than ever. We all practise authenticity and love and being ourselves, and I genuinely think being there for our trans brothers and sisters now — like they have always been there for us — it's about allyship and it's about protecting each other. And I don't think that fight is finished yet. I think it's very important to still be fighting that fight. I do believe Pride should always be a protest that I feel like there's so much — as a community, we have so much to do for trans rights across the board. Pride should always be in protest. I have had real issues locally recently trying to drive the message through to people that trans people are all individuals. They're all different, we're all different, we're all authentic, so maybe we should just let people be themselves. But it's really hard, it's hard to push a message through to somebody who's ignorant and I just feel all I can do is support my trans friends and trans people I've never met as much as I can. Sometimes that feels like it's about literally, physically standing in front of them at protests. When I was on X Factor, I'd already been out for years. I came out and I was really young, so I remember one of the producers or press teams saying: 'Are you gonna like, come out?' And I was like, 'everybody already knows I'm gay'. And one week on The X Factor, we did the covers, I did a Gold Digger cover and everybody had backing dancers and I said 'Can mine be female backing dancers?' And they were all twerking up against me and it was absolutely amazing, and I remember feeling quite confident in being my queer self then. Things are so much more different about being queer now than when I was on X Factor. There's so many more people to see, there's so many more platforms to see queer people on. I love that about social media, it's one of the few things I love about social media — that you can see so many of your people. All of my music is inspired by my real life experiences. My new album is called Other Sides of the Moon, which is a song about my wife and how we fell in love with each other. So I guess there's intrinsic queerness throughout my entire album, but it's all about things I've felt or observed. I can't wait for it to come out, there's a collection of older songs on there that have been reborn in some ways and it's kind of a message to people: Think about the past or something they can change. And I looked at a lot of songs from the past and actually thought I'd like to give them new life. My favourite thing about being a musician is the culture and the community that there is at my shows. There's just so much diversity and my favourite thing is that music has brought all those people together and just being a part of it, I don't feel like a leader of it or anything like that, I just feel immersed in this community, and I love it. Whenever I think of Pride I think of being a 15-year-old living just outside of Manchester and going to Manchester Pride and just looking around and seeing so many people that just felt like family. And I remember that so vividly, walking around with my mouth open the whole weekend just thinking this is life. And I still feel that at Pride events now. My advice to young queer people is do your thing. Live your best life and protect each other and the whole phrase of 'blood is thicker than water' is actually the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and that means that the the bond between nuns is actually thicker than the bond of those in in family situations. So if you need to create a new family, if you need to look for other people, go for it because that bond is thicker than it. I always go back to the storyline that I loved most on television, which was Coronation Street with Hayley Cropper, the trans character. It was so long ago, and it was so left field for that that time, and I went into school and they were asking what we wanted to be when we were older and loads of people were saying, 'firefighter', 'I wanna be a policeman' or actor and I said I wanna be a transsexual. I just thought it was such an amazing story, they used transsexual then on television because it was so dated, I think it was 2008. But I spent from age well late toddler to about 10 being called Max, I was a boy until puberty and so I didn't realise that [transitioning] was really possible until I saw it on television and I was like, 'Oh my God'. And now you get to see transgender people so much more, and I wonder if I'd have had access to the world in the same way that we do now if my choices would be different growing up. There's so many shows I wish I had. I remember watching Queer as Folk growing up, my mum was obsessed with Queer as Folk, and there's so much more now on offer. Before being gay was kind of like it was about how being gay meant you had to be part of this scene, and now there's so many things that represent being gay or being queer. You can just be a normal person and be that, and I like any shows that has that in it. In terms of my queer role models, growing up my mum's best friend Kathy is a trans woman and I remember just always feeling so empowered by her. Not just Kathy, but actually my mum was such a pioneer, she always surrounded us with artists and creatives and queer people — she's a real pioneer. I feel like there's room to improve when it comes to the platforms for queer people, I think there's always more to be done. I think within our community the amount of creativity and just fabulousness, it's always pouring out of the community, and I always feel like there could be more places for that art to be distributed. Not even necessarily in terms of more celebrating, but more more areas of industries that hone in on queer people and whatever that means for that. There's more avenues and more funding for people, especially young queer people, to express themselves. I think the future of queer storytelling is gonna be how it always has been. From Oscar Wilde right up until now, everyone's always gonna tell their story and it's going to be remembered because there's been so much adversity in this community for thousands of years.
