Pride is about many things: visibility, community, celebration and the freedom to be exactly who you are. But sometimes, the most powerful moments come from simply hearing people speak from the heart.
During our coverage of Brighton Pride in the Park, Scene Magazine reporter Liran Notik spent time around Queer Town, asking people to share a personal message - whether it was for someone they love, someone who helped them along the way, their younger self, their future self, or even someone who once made them feel like they didn't belong.
Watch our video and hear the messages for yourself
Liran Notik, Brighton Pride in The Park | Filmed by: Jessica Bainbridge
The responses were emotional, honest and, at times, incredibly moving.
One person chose to dedicate their message to their best friend - someone who had stood by them through everything:
“I want to thank my best friend, who has always supported me for who I am and has always been there for me. She’s the best person I know.
Another decided to turn the message inward, celebrating the person they once were and everything they had become:
“I want to thank my younger self, because look how great I turned out!”
And for someone else, Pride was an opportunity to reclaim painful experiences from the past and recognise the strength that came from surviving them:
“I want to thank my bully and everybody who harassed me and beat me up at school, because I grew up to become this amazing, strong, self-confident person I am today.”
They capture something powerful about Pride: the ability to look back at where we've come from, recognise the people who helped us along the way, and celebrate the people we've become.
Around Queer Town in Pride in The Park, we heard messages filled with love, gratitude, humour, vulnerability and resilience. Some were directed towards parents and friends. Others were for people who had caused pain. And some were simply a reminder to themselves that they had made it through.
Because behind every Pride celebration are thousands of personal stories.
Stories of finding yourself, finding your people, overcoming challenges and finally feeling free to be who you are. These are just some of those voices.
Scene was founded in Brighton in 1993, at a time when news stories about Pride protests were considered radical.
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