Meet Lewis Laney, author of 365 Gays of the Year
What does LGBTQ+ Pride mean to you?
Pride is such a joyous time, when everyone can be themselves, and for once or twice a year, not feel like the minority in society. Me and my partner attend multiple prides throughout the summer because we always have so much fun, and we see so many of our friends and always make new ones. We always attend the rallies and marches, as well as the festivals and celebrations, because we must remember that pride began as a protest, and we are still fighting for our rights today. The battle is not over and Pride has an important job in reminding us all to keep challenging the oppressors who want to take away our human rights.
What’s your favorite queer space?
My favourite queer space is actually an LGBTQ+ music festival called @MightyHoopla that takes place in a park down the road from my house, once a year and is organised by the wonderful @glynfussell and his crew. It's always full of love and joy and the best music acts from the 80s, 90s and 00s. I can't think of a better way to spend a summer weekend with friends.
Who in the queer community inspires you right now?
So many people inspire me right now, and I featured some of them in my book 365 GAYS OF THE YEAR... I'm a huge fan of Olympic Diver Tom Daley and his efforts to highlight homophobia across the commonwealth during the Commonwealth Games in 2022. I think singers Sam Smith and Kim Petras are absolute icons for living their truths, despite the barrages of hate they receive both on and offline. And I think the British comedian @JoeLycett is a hilarious performer who uses humour to highlight and ridicule homophobia, misogyny, racism and hate in general. Do check him out if you don't know his work already.
What do you hope readers will get from your book?
I hope people enjoy learning from the book. I think it's important for us to know our history so we can learn and grow from things that have come before us, whether they be good or bad. I also hope that readers are inspired by the amazing people featured in the book, and that it prompts them to do something that makes a little change in the world too. Progress, education and activism are so important in the LGBTQ+ community and can take on many forms. It could simply be correcting someone's use of the wrong language, or it could be super-gluing yourself to Parliament (LOL 😂)
Originally from Derbyshire, Lewis Laney headed to the bright lights of Blackpool in his teens and began writing queer fiction. After having his first short story published in The Next Wave: The Gay Times Book of Short Stories (2002) at eighteen, he went on to write for various publications including the iconic music magazine The Face. His first book The Little Book of Pride was published in 2020 and immediately topped Amazon’s LGBTQ History category. Lewis works in publishing and lives in London, where he works with local establishments to provide safe spaces for queer meet-ups.
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