Happy Pride! This month, you’ll be seeing the rainbow flag everywhere you look. Created by activist Gilbert Baker, the flag is symbolic of solidarity, power, community and queer culture. But did you know Baker also assigned each colorful stripe of the rainbow a meaning? Join us as we chat with LGBTQ+ folks in our own Knix community, all while marching through all the colors! Check out Red and Orange here.
Next up is Yellow. Yellow symbolizes the sun, so we chatted with one of the brightest lights in Toronto, Aisha Fairclough. Co-founder of Body Confidence Canada and founder of Representation Matters, Aisha is a body image advocate dedicated to producing and creating diverse content.
How are you celebrating Pride this month?
This month I'll be celebrating Pride with my partner and friends. We'll be volunteering, attending community events, panels, screenings and marches. Pride is about community and I'm a proud member of the community.
How do you celebrate all year round?
Celebrating pride all year long means living my authentic truth and being me. I don't take for granted the privilege of being able to be "out". There are many people that can't live their authentic truth because of fear of violence, death, homelessness or abandonment.
Body positivity is a focus on all your platforms, can you speak to how Pride intersects with that?
Body positivity isn't just about size - it's about race, gender, sexuality, ability and true inclusion. Body positivity is also about using your voice to advocate for yourself and others.
For many of us, Pride is a time where we can celebrate our diverse gender identities and gender expressions. While Pride is a party and a celebration, pride is also a protest. It's a time to reflect on the progress that we have made and also a time to think about how far we need to go for true equity and inclusion. Being able to express who you are is part of body confidence.
Some days it’s hard to be positive about anything! Body positive included. How do you stay positive on a day to day basis? Any tips?
We are more than one body part, we are more than our arms, more that our hips. We are an entire package. We all have our good and bad days and sometimes those days have nothing to do with our body. It’s ok to have bad days, but we must remember what our body does for us! It’s also important to surround yourself with people that don't routinely participate in negative self talk.
What are your hopes for the fashion industry in terms of intersectional representation?
My hopes for the fashion industry is that they invest not only in models in front of the camera but they also foster, embrace and work with diverse talent behind the camera. It’s not enough to hire one plus model, one black model, one trans model and so on. Representation Matters and we must continue to see the world that we all live in.