02/06/2026
June is Pride Month🏳️🌈, which is not only an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ communities to celebrate and advocate, but also an opportunity for organisations like SEV to amplify LGBTQIA+ voices and show our continued support for diversity. Read Chloe's story about what pride means to her below ⬇️⬇️
I’m a 20-year-old open q***r woman, but getting to this stage in my life took time, fear, patience and self-understanding. I first came out to my parents at 16, through a letter. My home was the first space I had to breathe. It gave me the opportunity to openly find myself.
At 17 I came out more openly, not everybody knew, but I also wasn’t secretive about my sexuality. I have something called straight looking privilege, so it was always funny to me to see the shock on peoples faces when they found out I wasn’t heterosexual.
To answer the question of how you knew? I simply just knew. I always knew from a young age that I was different in many ways but especially this way, I didn’t have much in common with peers in terms of crushes, and being so open about who I had the hots for at the time. Attraction isn’t something that can be chosen, it simply just is what it is.
Pride to me isn’t about being loud as much as it is about creating visibility, safety and the freedom to exist authentically, not just for me but for everyone. I’m passionate about being a safe person and creating safe spaces for everybody, q***r or not. You don’t have to be q***r to support pride. This passion has guided how I show up for others, and I’m currently mentoring a young individual, being someone they can come to with questions without any judgement and anonymously, offering guidance on LGBTQIA+ topics, and sharing my experience to guide them. It’s a role that I cherish because creating safety and visibility isn’t just a political agenda to me, it’s something that can change the course of somebody’s life forever.
