By OPEN Media UK
We feel it is always so important to use our platform for good, especially at a time when the LGBTQ+ community is experiencing rising levels of intolerance.
As an OOH media owner with a national presence, this platform gives us the opportunity to ensure we are promoting positive campaigns and making this platform accessible to communities who may not otherwise have the means to spread their message.
OPEN are celebrating Pride Month 2022 with a nationwide DOOH campaign, proudly displaying inspirational messages from the LGBTQ+ community across our entire digital portfolio, in order to recognise how far we’ve come as well as raise awareness about the continual struggle for equality.
The #OpenAndProud campaign is designed to amplify the voices of the LGBTQ+ community by providing access to our nationwide platform in order to be visible and speak loudly about what we have achieved, how far we have come and what is still needed in the future.
The quotes have been contributed by a diverse range of members of the LGBTQ+ community across a wide scope of industries, expressing what Pride Month means to them individually, addressing and acknowledging the need to challenge prejudice and celebrating your true self unapologetically. It was also great to get so much representation from within the OOH industry itself, with participants from Talon, PSI & Clear Channel to name a few.
Pride Month promotes embracing who you are and letting the world know – which is a notion we at OPEN support wholeheartedly. This year we have once again partnered with LCR Pride, and want to extend a massive thank you to them for making this important campaign a possibility. The LCR Foundation champion the rights of LGBT+ people living in and visiting the Liverpool city region. They fight to highlight the daily barriers they face and try to create an inclusive culture for all to enjoy and participate in, through a diverse programme of events, initiatives and campaigns.
After restricted Pride events last year during the pandemic, it’s so nice to be launching this campaign in person to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month 2022.
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Over the last year, we’ve seen hate crimes rise up and down the country proving there is still so much more work to be done – According to Home Office figures, hate crimes against people based on sexual orientation have risen every year in England and Wales from 2016/17 to 2020/21.
In 2016/17, there were 8,569 of these crimes recorded by police, but last year this figure was 17,135.
For hate crimes against transgender people, this figure has risen from 1,195 to 2,630 in the same period.
This data really emphasises the importance of these awareness campaigns, allowing the public to be continually reminded about the constant struggle for all members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Andi Herring, CEO and Co-Founder of LCR Pride Foundation, sponsors of this year’s PRIDE campaign said:
“After more than two years of staying apart due to the pandemic is it time for us to come together once again in protest, in celebration and with the intention of working together to improve the lives of LGBT+ in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.
“Our community has faced immense challenges over the past two years, from horrific hate crimes against LGBT+ people, to disproportionate mental health issues due to isolation. While LCR Pride Foundation’s physical events may have been on hold, our work has not.
“We have continued to support our community through our online platforms, initiatives such as the ‘You’re Safe Here’ programme, funded by Merseyside PCC, Culture Liverpool and Liverpool BID Company, and through extensive partnership working.
“Over the past two years we have supported the re-establishment of the city’s Pride Quarter, the launch of new CMAGIC services improving Trans, Non-Binary and Intersex healthcare, artistic responses and intervention alongside Homotopia and Culture Liverpool to address hate crime targeting the LGBT+ community and we continue to see projects funded from our community fund deliver real, lasting change for the LGBT+ community in the city region. “This year will allow us to ‘come together’ as a community, consolidate all of this work and forge a path forward that will allow LGBT+ people to live their authentic lives visibly, safely and happily in our region.”
BALANCE | DIVERSITY IN OOH 