Chelsea and Chelsea Pride come together for second year for Pride in London
From the official Chelsea FC website:
Chelsea FC, the Chelsea Foundation and Chelsea Pride are once again joining up to take part in London’s annual Pride march and celebrations.
Last year, Pride in London celebrated its 50th anniversary and Chelsea took part on the first Chelsea Pride float, as the club stepped up our presence at the annual parade that celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQI+ community.
Building on the success of 12 months ago, Chelsea will once again continue to show our commitment to support, advocate and be an ally by partnering with Chelsea Pride, our LGBTQI+ supporter group and taking part in the Pride in London parade. The Chelsea truck will host a mix of Chelsea Pride members and Chelsea colleagues, as well as mascots Stamford and Bridget and other exciting entertainers.
Tracy Brown, chair of Chelsea Pride, shared her excitement about the weekend: ‘It’s Pride month, a time to celebrate. When the football seasons end the excitement starts to build for another reason. The excitement that is London Pride. Each year we are backed amazingly by our club as we celebrate the LGBTQI+ family of Chelsea FC.
‘This year like every year we proudly stand together. Together we can change the world. Together we are unstoppable and together we will show the world that hate will never win.’
Equality, diversity and inclusion manager at Chelsea FC, Lauren Du Plooy Flowers, echoed Tracy’s excitement: ‘It has been truly inspiring to come together this year for Pride in London, building on the efforts of previous years. Departments from across the club have come together with Chelsea Pride to build a strong message “Whoever you may be” – taken from one of the club’s anthems – which will continue long beyond Pride across our ED&I work.
Lauren added, ‘Moreover, Pride gives us the opportunity to come together as a club and learn more about the LGBTQI+ community more widely and the roles we all have to play. We are running various language workshops for our internal colleagues to support in understanding terminology and pronouns. We are excited to launch pronoun badges for our colleagues too, making them available to anyone who wants to wear one.’
Head of the Chelsea Foundation, Simon Taylor, said: ‘Sport is for everyone and at Chelsea we are proud to support our LGBTQI+ community and proud to attend this year’s Pride march.
‘We believe it’s vital to play our part and be visible at events like London Pride, to share the message that Chelsea is open to anyone, whoever you may be.
‘Through our No To Hate campaign, we are committed to advocating, supporting and showing our allyship by ensuring LGBTQI+ rights are a fundamental part of our internal and external campaigns and initiatives.
‘Together we can make our game and our communities more welcoming and inclusive.’
Catherine Smith, head of supporter relations, said, ‘Chelsea FC is delighted to champion work with many fan groups, including Chelsea Pride, and we are hugely supportive of the work they do alongside us to campaign for positive change. Our presence at London Pride signifies the important role we have in ensuring football is a welcoming environment for everyone.
‘We will continue to work with Chelsea Pride, and our LGBTQI+ fan representative on our Fans’ Forum, to help raise awareness, educate and celebrate our LGBTQI+ supporters in the seasons ahead.’
The Pride in London parade takes place on Saturday (1 July). Show your support by attending London Pride, wear your Chelsea blues and help us to advocate for LGBTQI+ rights.
Use #WhoeverYouMayBe to upload your Chelsea Pride pictures to Twitter, Instagram and TikTok with a chance to be featured in our Pride highlights.
‘Chelsea Supporters Group’ can also be found on Twitter and Facebook
