It Started With a Riot

VE Cosmetics stands with the LGBTQ+ community.Not quietly and not just in February. It does not matter who you love.It does not matter how you identify.It does not matter if you are still figuring it out.You are not wrong for existing.

LGBTQ+ history did not begin with rainbow branding.It began with resistance. In 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York, queer people, many of them trans women, drag queens, and people of colour, fought back against police raids and brutality. They were tired of being arrested. Tired of being humiliated. Tired of being told they were shameful.So they refused.

Modern LGBTQ+ rights were not handed over politely. They were demanded.Here in the UK, Section 28 silenced discussion of queer lives in schools until 2003 in England and Wales, and 2000 in Scotland. That is not distant history. Many adults today grew up being told their existence could not even be acknowledged in a classroom.

This is where I quote my favourite Lyrics by The Idles:

"Fear leads to panic,Panic leads to pain,Pain leads to anger,Anger turns to hate"

And most of that fear begins with not understanding, which is why education matters.Which is why history matters.Which is why listening matters. Progress has been made. But rights are still debated. Trans people are still targeted. Queer young people are still frightened to ask questions. Families still turn their backs.

If you feel alone, you aren't..My inbox is open. Not as a brand. As a human. As a woman in her forties who is tired of prejudice, tired of watching people be told who they’re allowed to be, and tired of hate being louder than love.I believe in dignity. I believe in autonomy. I believe in people living their lives without fear.And I will always stand on the side of love.

We also recognise something important: Allyship does not mean speaking for the LGBTQ+ community.It means listening to it. It means believing people when they tell us what harms them, It also means amplifying queer voices, not replacing them or speaking over them.It means educating ourselves instead of expecting others to carry that labour.

LGBTQ+ people do not owe the world explanations for their existence but the rest of us owe the effort to understand.We will keep listening.We will keep learning and we will keep making space,Not just this month but Always.

VE has always stood for love.
And if you are reading this and wondering whether you are safe here, you are.

Always.