LGBT

CO-EDITORS CELESTE SPAIN AND JAMES WILLIAMS

LEGO PRIDE SET REVIEW

BY CELESTE SPAIN

As an LGBT person with a great love of LEGO, I couldn’t wait to buy the ‘Everyone is Awesome’ LEGO pride set, which I have heard so much about since it came out at the beginning of June to mark the start of pride month. This is the first ever LEGO pride set and therefore it was very important for this set to be inclusive and show the diversity within the LGBT community so that no one is left out of this set. It was also an opportunity for LEGO to show their support for the LGBT community. I am definitely hoping more pride sets will be released in the future, not just for pride month because as I have emphasised before, pride is all year round. On first inspection LEGO have taken a fairly simplistic design, made it exciting to look at, build and a perfect addition to anyone’s LEGO collection or bookshelf. The set features the colours of the progress pride flag (which includes the colours: black and brown representing people of colour, the pink, blue and white representing the trans community and the colours yellow and purple representing the intersex community). These colours make up the backdrop behind the LEGO figures and continue as LEGO tiles underneath them too. In terms of the set’s construction, it is very sturdy and also aesthetically pleasing to look at - perfect for going on a bookshelf or windowsill. The LEGO figures themselves are brilliant because they match the colours of the pride flag but all with different hairstyles and are placed diagonally from left to right: black as the furthest forward and pink the furthest back. This means that when you look at the set from the side you can see each individual figure clearly and offers another display option. The total build time for me was around half an hour. Also, the instructions were easy to follow, and it was quite an easy set to build. Therefore, don’t let the ‘18+’ on the box put you off, anyone under this age could easily build this set. I love that each character is unique, this really shows LEGO have made this set inclusive and thought carefully about the product. You can buy it for £30.99 on the LEGO website and I thoroughly recommend it to all!

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO PRONOUNS

BY ELOISE BRINDLE

In today’s ever changing society pronouns are important but also cause confusion for many people. By many estimates there are at least 60–70 gender identities in the world today. With so many gender identities there comes a range of new pronouns.

WHAT ARE PRONOUNS?

Pronouns are helpful tools you use, in place of a name, to express gender identity. It’s important to remember each individual is unique and therefore can use different pronouns. People will be much less likely to make mistakes about someone’s pronouns if they ask which pronouns to use and share their own when introducing themselves.

WHY ARE PRONOUNS IMPORTANT?

Pronouns are important because, by using the correct pronouns, you are showing someone respect and creating a more inclusive environment for everyone. However, using incorrect pronouns may cause offense or be hurtful. Also, ignoring a person’s pronouns may imply that individuals who are under the transgender umbrella (such as people who are transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming) don’t exist.

HOW TO BE INCLUSIVE AND RESPECTFUL:

By using gender-neutral pronouns people are not making assumptions about another person’s gender. If you do not know someone’s pronouns, use “they” when you refer to them. Another way to be inclusive is to share your own pronouns with others. People can introduce themselves by their name and their pronouns everywhere, not just in LGBTQ+ spaces.

WHAT IF I MISTAKENLY USE THE WRONG PRONOUNS?

Despite best efforts sometimes using the incorrect pronouns can happen. If someone accidentally uses the incorrect pronouns they ought to apologise, correct the pronouns and persevere. For example, if two people are talking about another person and one of them uses the incorrect pronouns for that person, one of the other people can gently correct them and remind them of the correct pronouns to use.

PRONOUN DO’S AND DON’TS:

DO ask people for their pronouns. DO apologise if you use the wrong pronoun. (It does happen!) DO NOT assume that a person’s pronouns will always stay the same. DO NOT ignore when the wrong pronouns are used.

By following these simple rules, you are less likely to fall into the trap of assuming other people’s pronouns. Do not worry if someone makes a mistake about pronouns just politely remind them of the correct pronouns to use and continue with your conversation.

LIVING OUTSIDE THE BINARY

BY CELESTE SPAIN

It was around a couple of months ago that I realised I come under the nonbinary umbrella. As in an umbrella term with other identities branching off from it. Like most people after discovering my sexuality the big question of gender identity loomed up behind me.

When I first began questioning my gender identity, I had a feeling that I didn’t see myself as one fixed gender. I have heard some transgender people say that when they look in the mirror, they see themselves as the gender they wish to change to. When I look in the mirror, I see the fluidity of my gender identity and through a lot of research and reading I came across the term genderfluid. The urban dictionary (one of my favourite websites for definitions of LGBT terms and identities) describes genderfluid as: ‘A genderfluid person is someone who fluctuates between more than one gender, or between having a gender and not having one. They do not stick to one gender…’. Basically, this means that this person’s gender varies, they feel a mix, so they may feel masculine on one day and feminine the next or a lack of gender other days/weeks/months. What I did notice was that I started to feel uncomfortable with the pronouns she/ her, and now prefer more gender-neutral pronouns such as they/them or the neopronoun xe/xem. What I love about the term genderfluid is that it doesn’t feel constrictive or like you must feel a certain way to describe yourself as this term. So, although friends may ask me what gender identity I am leaning more towards on a certain day I don’t have to specify necessarily. This feels very freeing to me personally, to just be who I am and not put myself into one fixed identity. However, I believe gender non-conforming folks are still underrepresented in the media so we need all the allies we can get. My advice to anyone who wants to be an ally to NB folk is try to use the correct pronouns for people, help raise awareness and use gender neutral terms in conversation such as ‘folks’, ‘peeps’ instead of ‘guys’ or ‘girls’ for example. This will really help let gender non-conforming folks know that you support them.

SHOW YOUR PRIDE

Romwe Chain Necklaces

£1–£3.50 | Romwe | uk.romwe.com I’ve included this as chain necklaces are currently very fashionable amongst LGBT young people. The necklaces on offer are low prices but high quality and immediately went on my Christmas list – will they go on yours?

ThistleSoapery Love Is Love Soaps

£4.50–£4.95 | ThistleSoapery etsy.com/uk/shop/ThistleSoapery ThistleSoapery is a London based soap shop with ‘natural and cruelty free vegan soaps’ helping you and others show your pride and be eco-friendly too. The ‘Love is Love’ soap collection comes in the flags: rainbow, trans, bi and pan as well as a pride confetti soap. Custom orders are available. Christmas is fast approaching so why not get something extra special for the LGBT people in your life and/or treat yourself. To really show you support them in who they are. So this year I’ve put together a Christmas gift guide with some items which I think would make cool presents to give to LGBT friends or family members! Without further ado here is the Show Your Pride Christmas Gift Guide:

LGBT+ Holographic Bracelets

£6.99 | The Pride Shop | theprideshop.co.uk/ product-category/jewellery/bracelets/ The Pride Shop online store has beautiful bracelets – the holographic ones are my favourite. When a certain light is cast onto them, they appear almost luminescent and even come in a large range of flag colours – a perfect gift for anyone.

‘Proud’ book compiled by Juno Dawson

£6.55 | WHSmith | whsmith.co.uk £7.99 | Waterstones | waterstones.com The book Proud is described on the front cover as ‘Stories, poetry and art on the theme of pride’. These are all written by LGBTQ+ writers with art by LGBTQ+ artists and compiled by Juno Dawson – the author of ‘This Book Is Gay’ and ‘What’s The T?’. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Pride Flags – specific to the person you are buying for

£6–8 Gay Pride Shop (depending on size) gayprideshop.co.uk £6.99 The Pride Shop | theprideshop.co.uk Pride flags are a great gift idea for any time of year. These are high quality material - perfect for any pride events, hanging up in your bedroom and they even make a great Zoom background! Rainbow Octopi £12 Rainbow Jellyfish £20 and many more! onewingedangel.bigcartel.com/products www.tiktok.com/@onewingedangel6 This is another cute gift idea I found via Tiktok, you may have come across this person’s hilarious tiktok videos featuring the cute crochet LGBT animals they sell. Well, I especially love the rainbow octopi and yes there are frog plushies too.

‘The Queen’s English’ by Chloe O. Davis

£11.99 | WHSmith | www.whsmith.co.uk £14.99 | Waterstones | www.waterstones.com This book is also a great gift or stocking filler. It is basically an LGBT+ dictionary of all the terms you could possibly imagine with beautiful artwork, helpful tables and diagrams to help you on your journey of discovery.

LGBTQ+ Frog Necklace

£13.38 | Funny Trinket www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FunnyTrinket Who doesn’t love frogs? FunnyTrinket makes cute frog necklaces where the frog is holding a flag of your choice, these also come as earrings and keychains. Flag options include: rainbow, bi, trans, asexual, lesbian and non binary.

Weird Wednesday Beanie Hats, Clothes, Prints & Badges

Hats £12 | Tees £22-£24 Prints £2-£3.50 | Badges £2 www.weirdwednesday.co.uk This shop is run by an LGBT couple and sells: cute ‘live, laugh, toad’ tees (tie-dye available), hoodies, beanie hats with ‘end gender norms’, ‘never not nervous’ & ‘never not tired’ on them. As well as cute pronoun badges and LGBT prints. Custom orders are available.

Lucy & Yak L.E. Original Dungaree & L.E. Benny Tees

Dungarees £60 | T-shirts £25 lucyandyak.com Finally Lucy and Yak do great ecofriendly products but their most recent collab is with Asaph Luccas part of L&Y’s Black Queer Travel Guide capsule collection. This was in creation of L.E. Original Dungaree. Some other products from this collection are the L.E. Benny Tee collab with Ashton Attzs as well as the L.E. Benny Tee collab with Wacom Boy. 100% of profits go to charities selected by the artists. Go check all three items out in the link above.