“Friday Pride Days”: the Launch at Nottingham
On 10 June 2022, the WTA 250 Rothesay Open held in Nottingham was home to the inaugural LTA “Friday Pride Day”. This also coincided with my own first experience of watching live professional tennis, so there were lots of reasons to look forward to it. Driving up to the venue, it was great to see the Progress Flag proudly billowing high amongst the other flags for the tournament. For many, I expect this might have just attracted some attention due to its colourful appearance; but for those aware of the meaning and significance of this symbol, it meant a great deal, as it represented the start of a more positive relationship between LGBTQ+ inclusion and tennis in Britain. Something, which a few weeks ago had merely been an idea brought up during a brainstorming session on how to improve visibility at an international tennis tournament, has come to fruition for all to see, making this the first international elite event supported by the LTA to display a Progress or Pride Flag.
The day started with an on-court interview before the first match on Centre Court with our co-chair and founder, Ian Pearson-Brown (right), alongside National Inclusion Development Manager for the LTA, Dave Hardman (centre). They discussed the objectives of Pride in Tennis and how we are working with the LTA towards our shared vision of a more inclusive tennis environment for everyone, irrespective of identity, whether that be sexual orientation or gender, for players, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans.
By this point, the officials and ball-kids had taken their place on the court, most of whom were donned with their rainbow sweatbands and some with rainbow laces. Ian stayed on court for the coin toss for the first quarter-final between Zhang Shuai and Tereza Martincová.
We then headed inside to the Pride Corner to start networking with local stakeholders to discuss creating a new LGBTQ+ tennis network locally in Nottingham. En route, there were some early indicators of the work we still have to do as an organisation and society - when some stewards were asked the location of the Pride Corner, the quizzical looks on their faces were soon followed by realisations of “Oh Pride, you mean about the ‘flag thing’?”, but they still showed interest and willingness - future allies in the making, I’m sure.
The networking event proved to be a great part of the day, with representation from multiple LGBTQ+ groups from Nottingham, including Notts LGBT+ network (photo from their Twitter account) and Notts Pride, brought together by Claire Brown from the LTA. We discussed some of the traditional challenges often faced by LGBTQ+ individuals wanting or trying to get involved in sport, as well as the more specific local difficulties that can be faced when accessing tennis in Nottingham. Having an insight into these barriers really helped us as we discussed potential solutions. It was great to hear the support and connections which could be offered from the different stakeholders and, as a member of Pride in Tennis, it was an honour to be at the start of the conversation for yet another potential new network. We came away from the talks with lots of action points and the possibility of gauging interest in an LGBTQ+ tennis network at Nottingham Pride this summer, so keep an eye out for the tennis stall if you are planning on attending.
Following lunch, it was an opportunity to watch some of the high quality live tennis that the quarter-finals had to offer. Our own Bruna Gil had rushed to make sure she could see eventual winner and Brazilian compatriot Beatriz Haddad Maia take on top seed Maria Sakkari in an entertaining three-set contest. The networking didn’t stop here as we were able to speak to some of the Nottingham locals in the crowd who have attended the event in the past and discuss how much it meant to them to see things like the Progress and Pride Flags and the rainbow sweatbands dotted around the event. They highlighted how seeing such symbols for the first time at a tennis event meant so much to them and how they had already told their families and friends about them. Seeing the LTA’s video interview with player and LGBTQ+ ally Liam Broady played on the big screens on Centre Court was yet another highlight of the day, as it was great to watch one of Britain’s best actively being involved in the conversation and showing his support too.
I think what made me realise the true impact of Friday Pride Day came after the event when messages started to come through from people who spotted us on live coverage sitting among Pride Flags to say how great it was to see that. Whilst the flags were present for those in attendance on site to see, this was not necessarily the case for viewers at home. I think this really went towards showing how such seemingly small gestures at the beginning can make a huge difference in improving visibility in sport for spectators and move towards making tennis a safer space for LGBTQ+ individuals.
With all of these small victories in the bag, it is important to remember that this is still just the beginning, and we have so much more to do in pursuit of our vision of making tennis a more inclusive sport in Britain. For now, we eagerly wait for the next LTA Friday Pride Days at WTA 250 Birmingham and ATP 500 London Queen’s Club, both on 17 June 2022.
About the author: Dan Rogerson (he/him) is currently our Secretary. He is also pursuing his doctoral research in Psychology, focusing on gender and sexuality in sports. He is a keen tennis player, having started at the age of 3.
