Northern Pride Festival 2023 will feature a spectacular march through the centre of Newcastle to celebrate the North East’s LGBTQ+ community, and you’re invited to take part. The March starts at 12pm Saturday 22nd July, from Newcastle Civic Centre and slowly progresses through the city, ending at the UK Pride Festival grounds on the Town Moor. Newcastle University is showing its support for Pride Month and the festival by flying the rainbow flag, promoting LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion.
Thousands are expected to join the march as it makes its way through the city as a sea of colour fills every corner of Newcastle. Put on your finest rainbow couture and join fellow members of the community, allies, friends and family to protest, celebrate, and commemorate those who have fought for LGBTQ+ rights, and to continue the fight for positive change.
At the festival site on the Town Moor visitors will pass through a Community Village with market stalls and zones such as the health zone, sports zone and LGBT Northern Social Group, before reaching the Festival Arena where the main stage will be. The main stage will have a number of speakers and performers as usual, with BSL (British Sign Language) being enabled throughout the weekend.
For more information on the festival go to www.northern-pride.com/pride23
Join us for breakfast
Join us 10am – 12pm on the 22nd of July for a FREE event where you can get ready for Northern Pride’s Parade. Hosted by Northumbria University and Northumbria Students’ Union, it takes place in Reds Bar at Northumbria Students’ Union. There will be breakfast, placard making, face painting and music. We’ll be setting off just before midday to join the main parade at the Civic Centre, where you are welcome to march with Newcastle and Northumbria Universities as a group if you wish.
This is a safe space to get ready and meet other LGBTQ+ students, colleagues and allies. You are welcome to bring friends and family, but we ask that everyone please book a free ticket using the link below so we can keep track of numbers.
There are both gender-neutral and gendered toilets available for guests to use, and also a quiet space for you to relax if things are getting a bit loud.
Why do we need Pride?
Pride events are about human rights, empowering LGBTQ+ individuals to reclaim the rights and freedoms they are denied, and the public space they often are excluded from or don’t feel welcome in. Pride reminds us that there is still progress to be made.
Many continue to campaign for a full legislative ban on conversion therapy in the UK, are fighting for better treatment for LGBTQ+ refugees and for equal access to IVF. With an increase in transphobia and continued persecution of LGBTQ+ people across the world we must continue to work together towards a better future for everyone in our communities.
Visibility is crucial to fighting shame and social stigma, marching in the face of threats and violence. Below are some findings from LGBT in Britain: University (2018) and Next Steps: What is the experience of LGBT+ students in education? (2021) to remind us why Pride is important.
- Two in five LGBT students (42%) have hidden their identity at university for fear of discrimination.
- Almost half of LGBT disabled students (47%) have been the target of negative comments or conduct from other students.
- More than a quarter of LGBT students (28%) say they were excluded by other students for being LGBT.
- Students intend to be more open about their sexual orientation and gender identity in higher education, with overall levels of openness increasing from 64% at school to an expected 82% at university or college.
- When researching university choices, around a third (31%) of LGBT+ students paid specific attention to LGBT+ services. These included mental health support services (47% extremely interested) and university or college reputation in equality and diversity (46% extremely interested). 30% were extremely interested in LGBT+ societies and 21% were extremely interested in support networks for LGBT+ students.
Get involved
At Newcastle we have supportive communities which aim to bring people together from across our University to share their experiences and provide opportunities to connect. You can join our Rainbow@NCL network for colleagues and postgraduate researchers, and NUSU’s LGBTQ+ Society provides a community for students.
The Library’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Guide highlights and curates useful information and resources and provide easy access to them in one place. On the LGBTQ+ Equality pages, you can find information and resources relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer themes. The resources include books, films, archives, oral histories and social media, and they examine LGBTQ+ themes from many perspectives, including history, society, politics, culture, literature, and more.