News

Drag performer and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK star, Divina De Campo, has been announced for an upcoming UK tour of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Shelter Birmingham has announced ‘Stride with Pride’; a daytime walk, raising awareness and funds for the charity, to take place on World Homelessness Day. The event that plans to map three cities in the UK — Birmingham, Manchester, and London — will bring together community in a group walk, pinpointing local queer landmarks.

In association with SHOUT Festival, The Pansy Project will be returning to Birmingham. The project, launched and run by artist, Paul Harfleet, plants pansies at the sites of homophobic and transphobic abuse.

Walsall Pride returned to the Arboretum extension on Saturday 29th August, and come rain or shine the show went on. Following extreme heat and drought, then thunder, lightning and heavy rain in the area, and with more rain forecast for the bank holiday weekend organisers were forced pivot and adapt to the changing circumstances to deliver this year’s event.

New research by Birmingham City University (BCU) has found comedy can be a useful tool for improving mental wellbeing and resilience for Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community. A new study published in the psychology journal, Behavioural Sciences, reveals findings from the LGBTQTeeHee! course, which has taken place at Birmingham Rep Theatre since 2024.

Redditch Pride CIC, which runs the annual Pride event in the town, are set to host a summer Pride Fete. The family-friendly event which caters to all ages will be held at Arrow Valley Lake Boat House at the end of August.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is set to return to BBC iPlayer and BBC Three this autumn, and among the fresh new cast of drag queens are three performers hailing from the West Midlands. Staffordshire’s KY Kelly, Dudley’s Naya Thorn, and Birmingham’s Anita Piss will hit TV screens in series 8 of Drag Race UK, competing for the title of the UK’s next drag superstar.

Reform UK leader of West Northamptonshire Council, Mark Arnull has announced that no funding had been given to Northampton Pride in 2026, and no funding will be offered in the future.

Organisers of Kidderminster Pride have made the sad announcement that 2026’s event will not be going ahead as planned due to ‘impossible costs’. They add that this does not mean the complete disappearance of Pride in the town, with something on a smaller scale being planned instead.

Redditch Pride organisers have responded after Reform UK councillor Sue Eacock, the Mayor of Redditch, issued a public apology for a series of historical social media posts in which she appears to criticise Black, Asian and LGBTQ+ communities.

Birmingham’s own Joe Lycett is set to return to stages with his first comedy tour in five years. The tour will play at two different Birmingham venues as well as dates across the Midlands

After lengthy campaigning from the Peter Tatchell Foundation, West Midlands Police’s acting Chief Constable has finally issued an apology to the LGBTQ+ community for historic mistreatment. WMP Acting Chief Constable Scott Green said Pride Month was the “timely and appropriate” moment to apologise on behalf of the force,

A Reform UK councillor has been reported to the police over comments made in an email that Warwickshire Pride have described as “transphobic”. The complaint over Warwickshire county councillor, Wayne Briggs, follows a leaked email containing his objections to flying the Pride Flag outside the council's Shire Hall headquarters. A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police has confirmed record of the complaint and plans to gather further details.

Content Warning: This article includes details of a suspected homophobic hate crime West Midlands Police have a charged a teenager (17) with attempted murder, and arrested a second teenage boy (also 17), following an attack on a man in Smethwick. The victim, in his 50s, remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition after being attacked at around 8.30pm on 14th June on St Paul’s Road, Smethwick.

Reform UK-led Staffordshire County Council say libraries under its jurisdiction will no longer feature Pride displays or host any pride-related activities reflecting a new 2026-2028 Libraries Strategy.

An exhibition of protest photography by I Am Royal Art is set to open in Coventry during Pride month. The exhibition, Human Focus, will run from 20th June until 29th July at LTB showrooms, Priory Visitor Centre (PVC); a community arts hub.

Organisers of Warwickshire Pride have released their own statement in response to another from the Leader of Warwickshire County Council, Reform UK councillor George Finch. His latest statement relates to libraries, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and ‘safeguarding’ against what he describes as "contested gender ideology."

The organisers of Coventry Pride say they’ve received a slew of online hate, including one person who threatened to drive a car into the festival crowd. In response, the organisers have had to allocate a large percentage of the budget for this year’s event on security, to ensure the safety of those attending and their team of volunteers.

Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, has tabled a motion to reject the EHRC code of practice. The code has been redrafted in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, which stated that the legal definition of a woman, in relation to the Equality Act, is based on biological sex. The guidance, if approved, would have far-reaching implications for trans people.

Notts Pride, one of the East Midlands' leading LGBTQ+ charities and hosts of the region's largest free Pride event, have called for further sponsors for this year’s Pride which is set to take place on Saturday 25th July. The event’s organisers promise that this year's celebration will be “the biggest, boldest and brightest” Pride in the city yet.