We’ve come a long way, baby. But we’ve got further to go.
Pride Month! That time of year when you’re never too far from a rainbow, be it a flag or a logo change. What started as a protest for LGBTQ+ rights has – over time – motivated organisations to think more about their inclusion practices.
The big test is whether or not they do it in a way that avoids performative gestures and keeps LGBTQ+ inclusion on the agenda for the rest of the year.
Pride Days at tennis events are a reasonably new thing, with the US and Australian Opens now regularly hosting celebrations and – as of earlier this month – the French Open too. Awash with rainbow paraphernalia, social media video spots have been more ‘thank you for coming!’ gestures from elite players to fans, rather than anything aimed at addressing or removing the barriers LGBTQ+ people experience in the game. The very talented Alex de Minaur clumsily proclaimed “just love everyone”. Good intentions and all that, but hardly a stepping stone to equality.
At times, it has felt like there has been a reluctance to say our name – LGBTQ+, gay, lesbian, transgender etc – even if people were fine saying ‘happy Pride!’. But if we’re going to really break through, get people to notice us and make lasting change, we need to say what we’re talking about.
Because if we can’t speak about the challenges we’re facing, how can we possibly talk about the solutions?
The LTA are now into their second year celebrating Pride Days.
Activity across tournaments at Birmingham, Nottingham and Eastbourne and Queens has been announced – and they’re even organising a Pride event to coincide with the British Open Wheelchair Competition in August. You see, Pride isn’t just a June thing.
This inclusive initiative understands that fans of wheelchair tennis (and indeed the players – like the wonderful Lucy Shuker) can be part of the LGBTQ+ family and – shock horror – outside of Pride Month.
But if the comments sections of Facebook, YouTube and the like are anything to go by, we’ve got to keep up the momentum.
Recently in the news, we’ve heard about companies like Target withdrawing Pride collections following criticism from anti-LGBTQ+ customers. This shows how vulnerable performative gestures are, as initiatives that don’t bother most people can be silenced down by vocal minorities.
True allyship digs its heels in and makes even firmer statements in support. It refuses to back down because it understands the issues we’re up against and is committed to standing beside us to solve them.
At Pride in Tennis, we applaud the LTA for growing their Pride Days activity and thank them for maintaining continuous dialogue with us throughout the year.
We have an exciting initiative in the pipeline to announce soon, which we hope will support more clubs around the country to be more inclusive (and feel more confident in doing so). But until then, happy Pride Month from Pride in Tennis and enjoy the grass season. Strawberries and cream very much at the ready.
About the author – Alex Hawkey (he/him) is Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Business Partner for the Royal Mencap Society, a charity that supports people with a learning disability. He lives in Manchester, plays tennis at David Lloyds across Greater Manchester and cannot express how happy he is that Hsieh Su-Wei is back on the WTA tour.