Against the backdrop of coronavirus lockdowns and anti-racism protests, Pride Month 2020 has been about resistance and solidarity say LGBT+ designers.
This year's month-long time of celebration for the queer community has happened in a unique social, political and environmental context that has reaffirmed the need for action, report queer designers from Europe and the USA.
"Celebrating Pride month in these days feels unavoidably different," said Formafantasma co-founder Andrea Trimarchi.
"There is so much forthright and vigorous defiance in the face of a more aggressively hostile external context than we've seen probably since the 1990s," said designer Adam Nathanial Furman.
"There may not be a Pride parade this year, but it is more important than ever to be brave and loud and open to keep up visibility," agreed 2LG Studio co-founder Russell Whitehead. "Honestly, Pride, to me, has felt more prideful this year," said architectural designer A L Hu. "The spirit of Pride is in resisting."
"We are witnessing the unbearable struggles of the black community"
The coronavirus pandemic saw many Pride events cancelled as part of measures to slow transmission rates, while anti-racism protests have happened around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis a few days before Pride Month began on May 25.
In the first few weeks of June two black trans women in America, Riah Milton and D...