Pride

Gay MP explains why we still need Pride in powerful parliamentary speech

Jun 25
Written by Chantelle Billson

Labour MP MP Sir Chris Bryant has given a powerful speech about the importance of Pride.(Parliament)

Chris Bryant has explained why Pride is still needed, in a speech to fellow MPs.

The MP for the Welsh constituency of Rhondda and Ogmore, who was among only a handful of out gay politicians when he was first elected in 2001, was taking part in a debate in the House of Commons on Monday (23 June).

Even the most “well-meaning liberal souls” have questioned why Pride is still necessary, and whether the LGBTQ+ community still needed more rights, he said.

‘We need it now when kids are bullied at school, when families throw their children out’

“We have always needed Pride,” he continued. “We needed it when people lazily assumed that a short haircut meant you were a lesbian, or a lisp meant you were gay.

“We needed it when the police wore rubber gloves to arrest us, just in case we gave them Aids. We needed it when we were called queer and fa**ot and arse bandit at school. We needed it when we were sneered at, spat at, punched, kicked and beaten up.”

Now the minister for data protection, Bryant went on to say: “We need it now, when kids are still bullied because they’re camp or butch, when families still throw their LGBT children out of the home, when many are so worn down by abuse that they take their own lives.”

He also referred to continued oppression in Hungary, where right-wing prime minister Viktor Orbán has banned LGBTQ+ marches, as well as to police officers in parts of the world who “deliberately entrap homosexuals,” and to trans men and women who were being “treated as less than human”.

@pinknews During a debate in the House of Commons on Monday 23 June, Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant made a powerful speech about the importance of Pride Month. He said that even the most "well-meaning liberal souls" have questioned why Pride is still necessary, and whether the LGBTQ+ community still needs more rights. Bryant responded that "we have always needed Pride" and "we need it now". #ukpolitics #houseofcommons #pridemonth #lgbtqhistory #pride #chrisbryant ♬ original sound – PinkNews 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

In 2023, the Labour MP told parliament that he felt less safe in the UK as a gay man that he had three years before, blaming rhetoric used by then equalities minister Kemi Badenoch for LGBTQ+ people feeling unsafe in the UK.