00:00For the first time, three of the Northeast's biggest Pride events are joining forces for a month-long festival in
00:05June.
00:06OutNorthEast has designed the celebrations to reconnect with the roots of Pride, bringing together communities across Sunderland, Gateshead and South
00:14Tyneside.
00:15The festival will include a mix of family activities, sports, cultural events and a march.
00:20We've gone back as a country. We used to be in 2007 number one in an index called the LGBTQ
00:26Index, which is a European index of the best places to live in Europe for a queer person.
00:33We're now number 22. Italy is the only worst one in this group.
00:38LGBTQ people are your friends, your neighbours, your brothers, your sisters, your mums, your dads, your neighbours.
00:44We're one community. And as we always say, we're not fighting for more.
00:48We're just fighting for the same. And we'll stand up for your rights if you stand up for ours.
00:53OutNorthEast is more than a Pride organisation. We're here in the one centre, the region's first LGBTQ community centre.
01:00We've been open eight weeks and had over 700 people through the door.
01:05Pride gives us a platform. It gives us an opportunity to communicate with more people and tell them about the
01:11services and the help and advice that we can offer.
01:13But it's also a chance as well to have a bit of a celebration.
01:18You know, it is about the protests, but it's also International Pride Month June.
01:22So the focus is on the LGBTQ community and it's something that we want to highlight, that the North East
01:28is a safe and inclusive place to live, work and visit.
01:31Over the past two years, OutNorthEast has hosted month-long programmes across the region, attracting around 130,000 participants.
01:40This year, the events are combined to create a Summer of Pride, offering activities including a five kilometre colour run,
01:47free cinema screenings, crafting sessions and a family fun day at the Beacon of Light.
01:51But what I love the most is just seeing families come together and celebrate, celebrating who they are, celebrating where
01:58they live, because Pride is not just about your identity, it's about where you live.
02:03Civic Pride is important and that's what we hope to give with the festival.
02:07And last year, we had a granddad come up to me, an old guy, and he shook my hand and
02:13he said,
02:13I'm here with my wife, I'm here with my son and his husband and their son.
02:20And he said, this is the first time that we've had a family experience together.
02:24Now, that wasn't political, it wasn't about protesting, it was just about bringing people together.
02:30If we can be visible and we can just give that one person who's walking past a little bit of
02:35hope to say that they're not alone,
02:37that if they're challenging their identity, their sexuality or their gender, that actually there are friends out there,
02:43there's a lot of us out there in the community that can help and support.
02:47So the one big thing that I'm proud of about OutNorthEast and all the prides in the region is that
02:53we are visible,
02:54we are vocal, we are seen, and because of that, I think we're making a great contribution.
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