FETISH PRIDE: Be a part of the People’s Pride Archive

FETISH PRIDE: Be a part of the People’s Pride Archive

from Recon News

28 June 2022

For The Bishopsgate Institute

London's Bishopsgate Institute holds one of the largest LGBTQ+ archives in the UK and is home to the UK Leather and Fetish Archive. The Institute does incredible work in preserving queer and kink history, making certain that our stories are retained. Now they're creating a new archive with the goal of recording your different experiences of Pride – no matter what Pride looks like to you

As 2022 marks 50 years since the first UK Pride march, the Institute's marking the occasion by creating the ongoing People's Pride Archive. Since that first Pride in 1972, the scale and definition of what Pride can be has continued to expand, but what's always been true is that fetish guys have always been front and centre, not only showing their queer pride, but pride in their kinks too. With this in mind, the Institute has reached out to us to request that fetish guys from around the world get involved and share their photos, memories and stories.

Pride means something different to us all – from a call to arms and time to unite in protest, to a celebration and party with friends and allies. The queer experience is wildly diverse, and there are as many ways to celebrate Pride as there are identities within the community. Whether you're a leatherman, a rubberman, a pup, a sports fetishist, a Sir, or a gimp, your experience of Pride is uniquely your own.

The Institute wants to give a home to your photographs and stories relating to Pride, creating a dedicated archive that celebrates the struggles and celebrations of the past 50 years.

Pride is about people, and they want to record the excitement and the adventure, the highs and the lows, the bravery and the defiance. It can be heartfelt, it can be powerful, it can be filthy, or it could just be about a certain someone you finally managed to play with – it's whatever Pride means to you; however, you want to share it.

One of the reasons they've reached out to Recon is that they're not only interested in the large, vanilla, global events, but want stories from any form of Pride. Whether it's a Fetish Pride, a party in your back garden, on your balcony or in the street, a memory from the 80s or 90s, or from a recent Trans Pride or UK Black Pride, your story matters.

Please add your stories and photographs to the archive so they can empower, inspire and educate future generations. Every story matters, so, whether it's a memory from your first Pride, or a photo from a memorable year please share it.

For more information on how to submit your story, click the link below.

You can also get a taste of what Bishopsgate Institute do with our video tour of the UK Leather and Fetish Archive.

*Photography from LGBTQ+ Archives, Bishopsgate Institute.

SHARE