Clear Channel partners with Pride Inside to take celebrations of queer life to the streets this summer

New grassroots campaign Pride Inside, launching nationwide in partnership with Clear Channel, will see the LGBTQ+ community taking over 1,000 digital Out of Home screens with striking images of what Pride means to them instead of taking to the streets.

The images will appear from Monday 15^th June for two weeks, with a potential reach of 10 million, making sure the spirit of Pride is still felt in every corner of the UK and the community continues to be visible this Pride month.

The campaign - the brainchild of writer, performer and drag star Ginger Johnson - aims to represent the full spectrum of the diverse LGBTQ+ community, with more than 120 queer contributors and photographers teaming up to create images from their homes or local public spaces while socially distancing.

They include the lead singer of a Belfast queer punk band  (together with her pet rat), a Newcastle drag king, an NHS nurse in south London, original members of the Gay Liberation Front and an award-winning engineer who came to the UK as a refugee and went on to be named one of the BBC’s top 100 influential women in the world.

Ginger Johnson, resident MC at Sink the Pink, the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ collective, and co-presenter of breakfast TV show Wakey!, said: “Usually we take to the streets for Pride. We take to stages, demos and dancefloors. We climb onboard floats or walk shoulder to shoulder with our families and friends but this summer that just isn’t possible. So it’s crucial that LGBTQ+ people from all walks of life are visible and proud in our public spaces even if we can’t be there together in person!”

Ginger added: “Pride is also a chance for our community to reach out to the people who haven’t found pride in their lives yet, who don't feel safe, who are hidden. It’s our chance to say to them, ‘You are not alone, we are here and we are proud of you.’ Pride has always been an opportunity for us all to learn about each other - to honour our shared experiences, our differences and our collective resilience. 

“It’s taken the combined efforts of a whole team of amazing queer people from all over the UK to get this project off the ground and we can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

The photography was co-ordinated by award-winning music and events photographer Corinne Cumming, who said: “We’ve managed to source photographers and subjects from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, throughout the UK and from many different ethnicities which is so exciting and unique. 

“For LGBTQ+ photographers and their subjects to be able to choose how they want to be represented via their art on a national platform, that’s really special.”

Clear Channel’s Chief Marketing Officer Martin Corke said: “As part of Clear Channel’s on-going commitment to support and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, we are proud to be partnering with Pride Inside this year to showcase people from all parts of the community celebrating at home. 

“While Pride events may not be happening on the streets, we hope to create a sense of shared experience and bring that community spirit Out of Home with our very public medium.”

Pride Inside hopes the campaign will inspire other queer people across the UK to carry on the Pride celebrations at home and create their own images, posting them online under the #PrideInsideUK hashtag.

The campaign also seeks to raise awareness of the work of grassroots LGBTQ+ charities, with Pride Inside partnering with LGBT+ Consortium to raise funds for organisations across the UK who provide vital services for the queer community.

A specially designed website will feature resources to allow people to learn more about Pride, those taking part in Pride Inside and how they can engage with each other.

The not-for-profit campaign was pulled together in less than a month after the Covid-19 pandemic prompted the cancellation of Pride events across the country.