Pride Month has come to a close, but we have a busy schedule of Pride events running until autumn in the UK.

I asked Hannah why Pride Month and marking Pride is important to her?

We are in a dangerous place in terms of the attack on trans and non-binary people in the UK. It’s important to celebrate how far we’ve come, but it’s a protest as well as celebration. In many parts of the world, it’s still illegal to be gay. In the USA there is a broader attack on LGBTQ+ rights. It’s so important to highlight the experiences of our community and talk about the challenges we still face, but also what legislation we need.

Which LGBTQ+ issues concern you the most in the UK?

At the moment the treatment of trans and non-binary people, particularly in the media but we also need changes to legislation. Banning conversion therapy and simplifying and humanising the gender recognition process are at the top of the list. There are broader issues about religion and the LGBTQ+ community. The Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church have come a long way. We can, parish-by-parish, get married and are embraced. The Church of England is still not there yet and we have Church of England Bishops in the House of Lords, legislating but they’re not willing to follow the law of the land. We have other religious groups and organisations where we need to make much more progress.

Can you expand on this?

There is a broader concern about political discourse and the narrative is that people are in their own corners, they don’t necessarily want to talk to each other. We have to open our hearts and minds, because there’s a lot of misinformation out there which is leading to fear, discrimination and hurt. There is also still a postcode lottery around fertility treatment, particularly in England and Wales. It’s a bit better in Scotland, but there are still challenges in terms of access and funding. We’ve come a long way in education. Time for Inclusive Education has done amazing work in Scottish schools. Unfortunately, what we have seen in England is not as much progress and potentially a rolling back of rights. Many people fear we might end up in another Section 28 situation.