To mark the beginning of Pride Month, we want to share 4 actions you can take today to support LGBTQI+ people seeking safety and the broader community.
While Pride Month is a joyous celebration of LGBTQI+ community, resilience and love in all its forms, alongside the progress we have made towards equality, it is also – first and foremost – a protest.
Pride is celebrated in June to mark the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall uprisings, which were a turning point in LGBTQI+ activism in the US, spreading quickly to Canada, Australia and Western Europe. In the decades since, there has been remarkable progress in LGBTQI+ rights.
In the UK, Rainbow Migration achieved equality for same-sex couples under immigration law in 1997, homosexuality was fully decriminalised with an equal age of consent in 2001, trans people have been able to legally change their gender since 2005, full protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender reassignment was granted by the Equality Act 2010, and same-sex marriage was legalised in England, Wales and Scotland in 2014 (2020 in Northern Ireland).
Despite these milestones, which are rightfully celebrated this month, we remain far from true liberation of all LGBTQI+ people. While legal protections are present in much of the Western world, 64 countries still criminalise same-sex relationships and only 24 countries have legal gender recognition based on self-ID. These discriminatory laws are often legacies of colonial occupation by the very same countries we now praise for being progressive.
The UK has dropped from being ranked 1st for LGBTQI+ rights in Europe and Central Asia in 2015, to 22nd in 2025 – largely due to the erosion of trans rights through lack of timely access to healthcare and transphobic legislation including the puberty blocker ban and the recent Supreme Court ruling. We have also witnessed continued attacks on people seeking safety in the UK, alongside other marginalised groups such as disabled people, and a lack of meaningful action of the UK government in the genocide in Palestine. These devastating policies both harm LGBTQI+ people within these demographics directly, and the community more broadly by sowing division and pitting us against each other rather than uniting in the collective struggle for liberation.
Given this context, while we absolutely should have joyful celebrations of all LGBTQI+ people and the freedom we have, it has never been more important to honour the true spirit of Pride as a protest as well. Here are four things you can do today to fight for LGBTQI+ equality:
1. Join our No Pride In Detention campaign
LGBTQI+ people seeking safety in the UK are still being detained, despite overwhelming evidence that they are at higher risk of harm from LGBTQI-phobic abuse, including from staff and people they are forced to share locked rooms with. Will you join us in the fight against LGBTQI+ detention?
2. Donate to support LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum
Your donation will help us continue to provide free, confidential legal advice, and practical and emotional support, to LGBTQI+ people seeking safety in the UK.
3. Email your MP in support of the trans community
On 16 April, the UK Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case of For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers, which interpreted the meanings of “man”, “woman” and “sex” for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. While the full implications are still unfolding, this decision has raised serious concerns among LGBTQI+ rights advocates, who warn it could lead to harmful and exclusionary outcomes for trans people, particularly in areas like single-sex spaces and service provision. We must come together to oppose any attempts to use this ruling to roll back trans rights and make our voices heard by our elected representatives.
You can also email the Prime Minister directly, and join an in-person mass lobby of MPs in Parliament on the 25th of June.
4. Attend the National March for Palestine on the 21st of June
We have previously shared ways to support LGBTQI+ Palestinians, who face serious risks under occupation, including violence, displacement and persecution. As a charity supporting LGBTQI+ people seeking safety, including Palestinian service users, we stand in solidarity with all affected by conflict and oppression.