Why we kindly ask you not to take photos at events to protect our community.
We understand Pride and other celebratory queer and trans+ events are a time of joy and happiness and
something you want to share with the world. However, we also recognise that many LGBTQ+ people
(especially those from multiple marginalised communities including disabled LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ people of colour) can be put at risk from images you share.
Sometimes, those who come to our events may not be out to those around them (which is 100% okay!) for various reasons, including for their safety or purely personal preference. This means they may be outed if the people around them (their family, partner/s, colleagues, etc) see photos of them at queer friendly events like Pride.
Trans and queer people (most especially youth) are more likely to lose access to safe housing or monetary
support from their families if they are outed. Unfortunately, this also means our communities face a higher level of violence and abuse when people find out they are LGBTQ+, furthering the difficulties they may already face and putting increasing pressure on mental health.
Recently the far right has taken increasing interest in queer events (with events like Drag Queen Story Hour being an opportunity for them to spread hate against LGBTQ+ people, especially those who are trans or gender non-conforming). Part of their tactics for trying to divide us and frighten us further is to film, photograph or livestream those that they perceive to be queer – something that has led to more people covering their faces and trying to blend in with the crowd at these events. Sadly, some people still find their photos are shared by the far right and end up circulating around their networks, inciting hatred and even threats against them.
Additionally, events which receive a lot of media interest or coverage from journalists are an opportunity for police to take a look at which local activists may be present. This enables them to take a look at who is friends with who; which people take on “organising roles” and may be of interest to them; as well as get clearer pictures of those they have seen before.
In solidarity with our closeted comrades – as well as those who are unable to attend for their own safety – we ask that you think twice before you share photos of our events. Where possible, ask for consent before you include someone in a photo – or ensure that you cover identifying features. By identifying features we mean people’s faces, hair, logos on their clothes, shoes and tattoos as well as anything else that makes them stand out or easy to spot in a crowd.
When you are taking photos of a large group of people we suggest that you completely cover any faces you can make out with opaque black squares, rather than blurring – as these are harder to edit and see what is underneath.
We also ask that you do what you can to avoid sharing photos of minors (those under 18) as children cannot consent to having their photo taken and you cannot control where that photo may be shared and the impact it will have on them in their adult life.
Thank you for reading and cooperating, we protect us!
For a reliable image anonymiser with tools to block out identifying features and scrub meta data from images including where it was taken and what phone it was taken on see below:
https://everestpipkin.github.io/image-scrubber/
This page is available as a downloadable pdf for printing as a leaflet: