June is Pride Month and to celebrate we’re talking about famous members of the LGBTQIA+ community, the notable things they have done, and the impact they’ve had on the community. Following on from our award-winning Pride in... series, we will be focusing on LGBTQIA+ members who have made a change in the community.
To have pride means to feel good and worthy about who you are or what you have done. As well as being a word to describe how people feel, Pride is also the name of a march and a celebration of people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Pride is a time for people in the LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate and take pride in who they are. It is also a time for people to talk about what still needs to be done for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Here's a look at some famous members of the LGBTQIA+ community and what they’ve been up to since we released our PRIDE in… series:
- Jake Daniels
Jake Daniels is an 18-year-old professional football player and after coming out in 2022, he is also England’s only openly gay footballer. After settling into Blackpool FC, Daniels decided it was time to tell his story and come out as gay, hoping to inspire other people to feel comfortable with their sexuality.
“You don’t have to change who you are, or how you should be, just to fit in. You being you, and being happy, is what matters most.”
- Edwin Chiloba
Edwin Chiloba was a Kenyan fashion designer, model, and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. During his third year of studies at university, Chiloba began to pursue a career in fashion, creating outfits and attending photoshoots, despite his family’s disapproval. Chiloba was nominated for the Pulse Fashion Influencer of the Year award in 2021. Sadly, Chiloba was murdered in January 2023.
- Paris Lees
Paris Lees is an English journalist, presenter, and transgender rights activist. She was awarded the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT in the 2012 National Diversity Awards. Lees is the first transgender columnist at Vogue and was also the first transgender woman to present shows on BBC Radio1 and Channel 4. Lees currently works with All About Trans, a project that aims to improve how the media portrays transgender people. She has also written her own fictional book called What It Feels Like For A Girl.
- Yasmin Benoit
Yasmin Benoit is an English alternative model, asexuality activist, and writer. In 2022, Benoit was the first asexual person to win Campaigner/Influencer of the Year at the Rainbow Honours 2023. Benoit has written for several publications and given talks at several events and universities, including the University of Cambridge and the UK Asexuality Conference. In January 2019, Benoit wrote an article for Qwear Fashion magazine in which she created the hashtag #ThisIsWhatAsexualLooksLike. Benoit encourages other people on the asexual spectrum to use her hashtag to show the diversity of the asexual community.
You can learn about more famous members of the LGBTQIA+ community in our award-winning PRIDE in… series, which can be found here.
