Name: Dawn (she/her)
Role: Co-Chair
My name is Dawn (She/Her) and I’m the Co-Chairperson of Chichester Pride which is a voluntary role I am very proud to share with my friend Melissa.
We both had a vision in 2018 following Melissas coming out as Transgender, to start up social opportunities for LGBTQ+ in a City that has very little visibility, support and therefore opportunities to meet others.
It was the success of this that led us to the full Pride event idea.
We started making plans for an educational expo type event so that we could break our conservative community into the idea of a full scale event, but of course this thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic! However, we seem to have come out of it with a fantastic new team all determined to go full throttle with a big event we only dreamed of.
As a Chichester based, full time entertainer & event producer in the vintage and cabaret world, I am a staunch ally who has offered spaces for the LGBTQ+ community, mostly through the Chichester Cabaret Club. Bringing drag, burlesque and adult toned comedy to the City seemed to bring along a crowd that I never knew was here, and the moment I received a message to thank me for creating a space in which LGBTQ+ couples felt comfortable to hold hands in and be themselves, I knew we really needed Chichester Pride.
Read more about Dawn's Chichester Cabaret Club and her future events here!
I’m working hard to organise the act line up for the main stage and it’s important to the whole committee that it’s diverse and showcases local performance groups as well as a line up of popular drag queens who I’ve had at my Cabaret Club.
I moved with my family to Chichester from Brighton in 2004 and having come from such a diverse City where most of my childrens friends were same sex parents, the stark difference with Chichester took some time to get used to.
As much as it was a wrench leaving Brighton after fifteen years, I have now been in Chichester for longer and I can’t imagine living anywhere else as we have so much to offer in regards to culture and the arts – which will be showcased during this year’s Culture Spark event – and so I see Chichester Pride and a missing piece of our beautiful crown. May all the jewels be rainbow coloured!
Photo Credits:
Portrait - Carlien Murray
Cabaret Club - Lee Barrett Photography
For more information about our team, click here.
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