#BeProudAtPride -Advice from Northumberland young people

9/26/2021

We took a group of our young people to Northumberland Pride 2021 – you can see how we got on in our Creative Catalyst Highlight on Insta. Our young leaders performed on the Pride main stage and we hosted creative activities that enabled us to chat to and connect with well over 100 young people across the day. We had a blast!

11th October is National Coming Out Day – a day all about celebrating queer identities and the moment (for some!) of being able to be their true selves. It’s a visibility day for queer folx and anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community and reminds everyone of the enormity of that “coming out” moment. Coming out for many young people is a HUGE deal and a massive moment.

We saw some of that enormity and tentative steps, from some of the young people we chatted to at Northumberland Pride – attending was a big deal to them and an important step in their journey and allyship. As part of our pop up at Northumberland Pride, we invited young people, to share their advice to folx nervous about attending their first Pride and we thought National Coming Out Day was the perfect day to share some of those insights and pieces of advice, to encourage and reassure any young people, curious but nervous about attending, that Pride is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

So, these are pieces of advice from Northumberland Young people, for other young people nervous about attending their first Pride in the future…

To help spread some positivity, our young people asked Pride attendees to write an anonymous compliment to someone they'd seen that day!

Be kind!
Be who you are at Pride, don’t hide.
There is only ONE you, be true to yourself.
Have lots of fun.
Just be yourself at Pride, everyone is accepting.
It’s okay to be yourself.
Don’t worry too much, we’re all like you.
Be happy!
Love yourself, you weren’t born to please anyone but yourself.
There isn’t anything to worry about at Pride, just be you.
Don’t be scared to be yourself.
Have Pride at Pride, you are amazing!
Be true to yourself and embrace your inner pride.
Be brave; no matter what and don’t be too shy to dance.
Try to get comfortable loving yourself because everyone is amazing.
Remember it’s YOUR pride.
Get involved and don’t forget to have a good time!

Well, that’s a dose of Pride positivity right there, we can’t wait for Northumberland Pride 2022 and will certainly be attending again. And we encourage Northumberland young people to check it out too!