On 2 July 2022, Westminster students, alumni and colleagues celebrated 50 years of London Pride with a Pride Celebration Breakfast at our Regent Campus.
The event was an opportunity to reflect upon the University’s own commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in general, advancing LGBTQ+ equality and honouring its rich - and often overlooked - LGBTQ+ heritage.
The University of Westminster’s Pride Breakfast commemorated the past 50 years and the evolution of Pride as a social and political movement; acknowledging those who came before us and their achievements.
The event featured a silent disco, Queer lucky door prizes, access to the Pride Parade, plenty of Queer cake together with tea, coffee and light snacks.
Hosted by the University’s Q+ Network and its members with Dr Thomas Moore and Professor Dibyesh Anand being the lead organisers, the event was attended by the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President Dr Peter Bonfield as well as other colleagues, students and guests. It was a chance to honour the contribution LGBTQ+ communities make to realise Westminster’s mission to be the world’s most inclusive university. The University’s Q+ Network works collaboratively with a number of other Westminster colleague networks and student societies within to foster an intersectional culture for equality, diversity and inclusion at the institution.
This year is a significant year for the Pride movement and the LGBTQ+ community, as it commemorates 50 years since the first Pride took place in the United Kingdom. The parade itself began at Marble Arch and finished in Embankment.
As the University celebrates and looks forward to the next 50 years, it recognises the challenges still faced by diverse LGBTQ+ communities globally. It is committed to building an intersectional understanding of the challenges faced by LGBTQ+ communities and individuals.
The University of Westminster’s Q+ Network is committed to highlighting and valuing the diversity of the Westminster academic and student community in partnership with the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network, the Women of Westminster Network (WOW), and the Colleague Disability Network.
For more information about the work of the Q+ Network please contact the co-chairs Professor Pippa Catterall and Dr Olimpia Burchiellaro.
