'Moments of Solidarity' campaign puts spotlight on LGBT+ stories
It's been launched by acclaimed queer activist and author - from Manchester - Patrick "Poggy" Murray Whitham
Last updated 13 hours ago
A campaign - titled "Moments of Solidarity" - has been running this summer, with the aim of increasing the visibility and availability of LGBTQ+ books on shelves throughout the UK.
The person behind it - Poggy Murray Whitham - says it's all in response to incidents in which Pride flags have been removed, Pride events have lost support, and LGBTQ+ literature has faced restriction under claims of child protection.
Free copies of the new book, Inclusion Moments, have been handed out to libraries, workplaces, schools, universities, charities, community spaces, and businesses across the UK.
Written to encourage reflection and action towards creating inclusive environments, Inclusion Moments is a book of reflections on inclusion, identity, allyship, and belonging.
'Small, everyday, interactions matter'
Poggy told Hits Radio Pride: "Inclusion Moments is a collection of experiences that have happened to me over a period of time that I've tried to turn back into educational moments for people to gain some insight, reflect on their own experiences, or to take action from, into how they can be more inclusive, but based on day-to-day interactions.
"When people think about inclusion work, it's easy to think about the huge companies and multimillion pound programs, but the point of the book is that small, everyday, interactions matter just as much, if not more so, in my opinion, than those big corporate initiatives can do.
"The book was released last October, and the response I've had is amazing.
"I think it's because it's so relatable to people.
"Everybody has these moments that stick out, that people may not necessarily think are important.
"So, #MomentsOfSolidarity was a campaign to get more LGBTQIA+ authored books onto shelves across the UK, at the very time when queer visibility felt like it was really being challenged.
"We saw, across the country, Pride flags being taken down, and books being removed, with quite dangerous language, citing the protection of children, and I thought that was really a quite dangerous precedent to be setting.
"So, I started this campaign with the aim to get any queer authored book onto bookshelves in public spaces, just because I really strongly believe our community deserves to be heard, deserves to be seen, and our stories matter.
"I didn't imagine the response would be quite as big as it was - at one point, I had Leo Varadkar, the former Taoiseach of Ireland involved in the campaign.
"The whole point of it was to get it on social media, showing that we have these books, and get more solidarity."
Small acts making a huge difference
In the campaign, queer authors, publishers, bookshops, businesses, and allies have been encouraged to get involved by donating, sponsoring, and requesting books, or by putting LGBTQ+ stories on shelves and sharing photos using the hashtag #MomentsOfSolidarity.
The campaign emphasises that even small acts like placing a book on a shelf can signal a noticeable message of support, telling individuals that their identity matters and that they are not alone.
What's clear is how the main mission of the campaign is all underscored by allyship, and how LGBTQ+ stories deserve to be seen and shared, with moments of solidarity leading to meaningful changes.
You can find out more about Moments of Solidarity here.