Loud and Proud

Loud and Proud is a beautiful collection of speeches from the LGBTQ+ rights battle. As the author notes, LGBTQ+ activism has a history of over 150 years, and is not just post Stonewall, and these speeches are taken from different points along that timeline. The author acknowledges that the book focuses on the western narrative, but it does attempt to bring in diverse perspectives, including some speeches from people in countries outside of Europe and North America. The intro mentions that many voices are absent from the pages, for a number of different reasons, and whilst there are a lot of other people I would have liked to see in this book, the selection chosen are interesting, and talk about a number of different topics that affect LGBTQ+ people.

Amongst the more familiar faces, like Ian Mckellen, Sylvia Rivera, Harvey Milk and Audre Lorde, there were also lesser known activists, and some allies. The intro states that this isn't a history book, but I found that it did give a lot of historical context and information before each speech. This is a good thing! I definitely learnt some new things. Each speaker has a bio before their speech, which sums up their life and their relevance to the LGBTQ+ community. This commentary, as well as providing me with new interesting facts, is helpful for understanding the older speeches, and also gives context to parts of speeches that modern readers may find problematic, offensive or outdated, without editing the original words.

The colourful pages are visually pleasing, and reminded me of the LGBTQ+ rainbow. The artwork and photos are exciting and unique. Whilst I read the ebook version of the book, I can see the hardback being a wonderful coffee table book, to dip in and out of as it takes your fancy.

Obviously, a lot of speeches are cut short in order to keep the book a reasonable length. In some cases this highlights the most powerful parts of the speech, making them hard hitting. In others, it can make them feel a little bit lacking. The author does tell the reader to go and look the speeches up in full online in some instances, because the full speech or the way that the speaker presents the speech adds to the message.

This book shows how far we have come in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, and inspires us to keep fighting. Some speeches are more inspiring and radical than others, but all of them document important parts of our community's history. I won't go into detail on the content of the speeches, because honestly, they speak for themselves. I will note that my favourite in the book was Lee Mokobe's speech.

Use this book as a starting point if you are interested in LGBTQ+ history. Use it as a pick me up, to remind you how much progress we have made. And use it as an inspiration, as we continue the fight.

My wordpress review of this book will be live on 28th March 2020 12pm GMT

Empowering and deeply powerful collection of speeches from the LGBTQ community and allies. This is a great book to learn about LGBTQ history. I read this book on March 31, the Trans day of Visibility. The photos were beautiful. The book reminds us of how far we've come in the fight for LGBTQ rights. Thanks to NetGalley and White Lion publishing for the.ARC.

Loud and Proud is a beautifully designed collection of speeches from LGBTQ+ people and their allies, compiled by Tea Uglow.

As Uglow's author note explains, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights did not start at Stonewall - that was an important point on the timeline, but the work of LGBTQ+ activists goes back much further and Loud and Proud as an attempt to broaden people's understanding of LGBTQ+ history.

I say attempt because, again, Uglow notes that it is not possible to provide a definitive history in such a short book. Yet by looking beyond one country to the experiences of LGBTQ+ people across the world-both historically and currently-we see the monumental gains made alongside the rights still being fought for.

While some of speeches are truncated in the book, Uglow provides links and asks readers to seek out and read or listen to the full length pieces.

I completely understand the importance of allies in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, but I did balk at the inclusion of some people. I would have preferred to hear more from the bisexual, pansexual and otherwise non-monosexual community as well as more trans and non-binary people.

Loud and Proud is a collection of inspiring speeches from important people in LGBTQ+ history (including allies) on various topics such as marriage, intersectionality, Section 28 and Pride marches. Accompanied by wonderful bold illustrations, this book covers 150 years of history; from Karl Heinrich Ulrichs calling for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1867 to the present day with trailblazing members of the community such as Munroe Bergdorf fighting for the equality of trans women.

Though Tea Uglow admits there is more of a Western focus - I was so glad there were still inclusions of figures from places whose history I didn't know a lot about, particularly as there are still countries where LGBTQ+ people are persecuted. Understandably there will always be omissions with a book of this nature and it's hard to fit everything into a one page biography, but this is a good starting place for people to learn more about LGBTQ+ history and why there is still so much more to fight for.

Fellow rainbow brigade, feast your eyes on Loud and Proud, an inspirational collection of speeches from the LGBTQIAP+ community and its many allies that will change your life just like the individuals changed the world with their powerful words!

In this wonderful collection, Tea Uglow has accumulated a variety of speeches, the topics ranging from marriage equality to how we define gender and what it means to be an ally. Each speech brings its own kind of power to the table and whether they are uplifting or radical, there’s something to be said about every single one in this book. Pairing each excerpt of a speech with a concise bio and phenomenal illustrations, Tea Uglow has created a visually pleasing and emphatic collection that is as educational as is it easy on the eyes!

What I loved most about this book (beyond the vibrant colours, the quotes that made me want to scream from the rooftops, and the overall love I felt while reading it) was how much it taught me. The author mentions this in the introduction, but there are so many historic moments and speeches in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights that we never learn about in school or elsewhere. Sure, most of us have heard of Stonewall but sometimes by focusing so strongly on this big event, we might overlook that activists have been fighting for equal rights way earlier. I have to confess, living in Germany, I hadn’t heard of any of these earlier activists back in school. None of their names graced our history books or if they did, they conveniently left out that they were part of the LGBTQIAP+ community. As such, this was an especially enlightening read for me and made me hope that people will pick this up, especially when they figure out that a lot of history is left out in history books. From more popular names like Lady Gaga and Laverne Cox to more unknown ones like Harvey Milk and Sally Gearhart, this collection focuses on the hard-hitting parts of the speeches that will make you think and look up the entire speeches on YouTube just to see the pure energy and commitment these people showcase.

While this is an uplifting collection that showcases how far we have come in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, it also highlights how far we have still to go in many countries. Inspirational and informative, this is the perfect purchase for yourself or your friends who are history nerds! Whether you leisurely flip through the pages or devour the entire collection in one sitting, Loud and Proud will be a timeless read.

Stunning collection of speeches by LGBTQ heroes and allies accompanied by stunning images. While it was great to read the words of people I was already familiar with, my favorite was to learn about activists that were previously unknown to me and some of our community's allies.