Why Do We Keep Having the Same Conversations Every June?| Pride Month Conversations

Pride Month, Visibility, and Why Some Conversations Still Matter

Every June, somebody gives us a microphone.

We are invited onto panels, asked to share our stories, and expected to explain our experiences. Organisations seek insight into inclusion, belonging, visibility, and community. For a few weeks, our perspectives are treated as expertise. Then July arrives, the microphone goes away, but the work does not. This is not a criticism of Pride Month. Pride matters. Visibility matters. The conversations that happen during June matter. Many of the rights and freedoms enjoyed today exist because people were willing to speak up when doing so came with real personal risk.

But Pride can sometimes create an illusion that attention and progress are the same thing. They are not. Attention is seasonal. Community is not.

Two women laugh together on a sandy beach

Why Do We Keep Talking About Visibility, Belonging, and Representation During Pride Month?

Every June, the same themes emerge: visibility, belonging, representation, safety, and inclusion. And every June, someone asks:

Are we still having the same conversations?

It is a fair question, but perhaps it is the wrong one.The assumption behind the question is that repetition means nothing has changed. That if we are still discussing the same issues, progress must have stalled. In reality, repetition often signals something else entirely, people are still living these experiences. Every year, someone is coming out. Someone is searching for community. Someone is questioning whether they belong. Someone is hearing for the first time that they are not alone. For them, these conversations are not repetitive. They are essential.

Community Building Means Talking About What Still Exists...

At SHÉLA Global, we recently explored these questions during a communications team discussion. What began as a conversation about mental health quickly expanded into something much bigger. One team member shared that she had often considered therapy but worried she would spend the session educating the therapist rather than receiving support herself. Many women immediately recognised the experience. For queer women navigating migration, faith communities, cultural expectations, family pressure, or countries where their identities remain criminalised, finding affirming support is rarely straightforward.

It often requires emotional risk, persistence, and the willingness to keep searching after disappointment. This challenge exists today. It is not history. Which is why we continue talking about it.

Two people draped in rainbow flags stand at a sunny Pride parade

The Hidden Pressure of Representing an Entire Community

Another discussion centred on a different burden: the pressure to be exceptional.

Not simply to succeed, but to succeed visibly and flawlessly. Because for many people, failure never feels like failure alone. One member of our team reflected on growing up as a Black queer woman in Nigeria, over time, success stopped feeling personal, it became proof. Proof that queer women could lead, proof that queer women could build organisations, proof that their stories mattered.

This burden of representation is rarely assigned formally, yet many people carry it every day, it exists in workplaces, universities, community groups, leadership roles, and social spaces around the world. People become cautious not because they lack ambition, but because they fear their mistakes will be interpreted as evidence about an entire community.

This invisible labour often goes unnoticed by those who do not have to carry it.

What Ancestor Are You Becoming?

These conversations eventually led us to a different question:

What ancestor are you becoming?

Every decision we make today becomes part of our answer.

We will share more on this in our next blog, stay tune...

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About SHÉLA Global

SHÉLA Global is a women-centred, lesbian-led Community Interest Company creating spaces for women who love women and non-binary people. We focus on storytelling, community building, advocacy, visibility, and connection, with a particular commitment to diaspora communities and individuals who have migrated from countries where their identities are criminalised.

We are currently growing our community, expanding our programmes, and welcoming new volunteers and collaborators. Interested in joining our community or supporting our work? Visit our contact us page, we'd love to hear from you.

By Dani, Olu - For SHÉLA