Revellers gathered to attend UK Black Pride this weekend, with the likes of Heartstopper favourite Yasmin Finney also putting in an appearance to celebrate her community.
The Netflix star, 18, enjoyed a day in the sunshine for Europe’s largest Pride celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American, and Middle Eastern-descent, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.
Yasmin looked stunning in a black cut out ensemble, bringing along a fan with the trans flag printed on it in a bid to keep cool amid the heatwave.
The actress – who plays Elle Argent in the hit coming-of-age TV series – donned a midi dress with spaghetti straps, wearing her natural hair and accessorising with eye-catching gold necklaces.
Always on theme, Yaz wore vibrant eye make-up of all the colours of the rainbow, and couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she posed for cameras.
Thousands of LGBTQ+ people and allies showed up to Black Pride, donning their boldest, most colourful outfits, accessories, and face paints.
The co-founder of UK Black Pride said she was ‘blown away’ with the community solidarity shown after more than 15,000 people showed up.
Phyll Opoku-Gyimah – known as Lady Phyll – recalled much smaller numbers when the event was set up in 2005 in Southend-on-Sea, but now the number of attendees continues to rise.
‘Our theme is power, and it’s about the collective power that we have within us for our communities, not a hierarchal power but a collective one for a movement which supports black and brown queer people 365 days of the year,’ she told the PA News Agency.
‘Every time I see this it shows even more the importance of why we need a black pride that our communities need to occupy places they haven’t historically occupied.
‘They have to take pride of place and understand that pride is political. It’s a protest, it’s a movement and seeing this, I’m just blown away and overwhelmed. I try not to cry but I know that I’ll break down later on.’
Performers also took to the stage for the nine-hour event, with around 50 notable figures taking to the stage for music and all-round good vibes.
The likes of Emeli Sande – who recently came out herself and revealed she is dating a woman – was one of the artists belting out their tunes.
Andre Bouges, 27, a communications officer for Black Pride UK, came out when he was in his late teens, and said Black Pride is ‘about giving the community a really lovely safe space to be themselves at their full capacity’.
He added that it’s an opportunity to ‘really embrace everything that makes them, them’ and bond with ‘chosen family’ members.
The last UK Black Pride in-person event saw more than 10,000 people convene in Haggerston Park in Hackney, after rising numbers meant it could not longer meet at Vauxhall Park in Lambeth.
As for Yasmin, her career has only gone from strength to strength after Heartstopper was welcomed into the hearts of millions earlier this year.
The show has since been renewed for two more seasons, with filming expected to start for season 2 in a matter of weeks.
Fans are hoping to see romance blossom between Elle – who is trans and whose story revolves around her navigating life, love, and friendships after moving to a girls school – and Tao Xu (played by William Gao) in upcoming episodes, after S1 left us hanging.
Yaz will also appear on our screens in the 60th-anniversary celebrations of Doctor Who, having recently confirmed that her character in the BBC series is trans too.
Heartstopper streams now on Netflix.
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