For those unfamiliar with the history behind Pride, it can look like just another a celebration – full of colour, smiles, parties, hugs, and confetti. But it’s what Pride celebrates in the face of, that makes it so important.

Like the diverse communities that we support, from many different refugee and migrant backgrounds, Australia’s LGBTIQ communities celebrate Pride Month in the face of historical – and ongoing – oppression.

First marked in Australia in 1978, during a time when it was still illegal to be gay, Pride originally began as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras – a form of peaceful protest that calls for safety and equal rights for LGBTIQ people. The original participants were met with police violence, arrests, and public shaming. And yet, they persevered.

People with value and worth – yet who rarely see others like themselves represented, portrayed positively in the media or holding any power in society. Who rarely have systems or policies built to include them, and who must exist in communities that are not welcoming or safe. Who often must jump through invisible hoops to be accepted, and carry this mental and emotional work on top of their own work, worries and daily routines.

From Refugee Week to Reconciliation Week, from Pride Month to International Women’s Day – we are so often reminded of the importance of care for and allyship with all marginalised people.

Allyship matters all year. But important milestones like these let us stop, reflect, and recommit to it anew. As LGBTIQ people across the world continue to face persecution, judgement, violence and social exclusion, Pride is an annual opportunity to stand for the opposite: Welcome, and safety for all.

At Spectrum, we specialise in supporting people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. In practical ways, we work to support them to have secure lives, the ability to work and support their families, the opportunity to thrive, the right to be included in community, and the freedom to be who they are.

While migrant and refugee groups are our focus, we believe in those same ideals for all people who are marginalised – including LGBTIQ communities. Often these identities aren’t separate, but layered. And for us, Pride is a reminder that recognising and celebrating people for who they are, is one form of standing up against injustice.

And although the experiences and needs of all marginalised peoples are not the same, each has something to teach us about how we can build fairer systems for everyone.

This month, Spectrum’s Settlement team wrapped up our special program for LGBTIQ young people from refugee backgrounds: Connect in Nature, hosted in partnership with Many Coloured Sky. Each week, we gathered and explored beautiful natural environments around Melbourne.

The program offered an opportunity for people who usually carry the weight of several complex identities, on top of being new to Australia. Each week was a chance to simply be themselves without judgement or pressure, surrounded by nature in its uniqueness, and in a safe space to chat, laugh, vent and come back to themselves.

As one participant explained, “Nature was wonderful… I love nature like this. Especially when I was walking, I could hear the sound of the water, it cleared my mind, it healed my heart. It healed me so much”.

Perhaps the calm and welcoming embrace of nature has something to remind us all, whether we carry intersecting marginalised identities, or whether we work with those who do.

In nature, there is room for all to be exactly who they are. Each person deserves the right to take up space – safely, with all of their complex and layered identities.

Whether in nature or in through movements like Pride, that create recognition and safety, every step towards more inclusion for all is a positive one. We’ll continue to walk that journey with all people from marginalised communities, recognising what they carry, and celebrating who they are.

Kelsey Dattoli – Communications Coordinator
Spectrum Migrant Resource Centre