Pride is The Acceptance of Yourself: An Interview with Hannah Bliss

Hi Hannah, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Hannah Bliss, US Director of Marketing for audio technology company Focusrite. I oversee the US marketing team and strategy, ensuring that our products are ideally presented to our customers through a multitude of tactics, with messaging and themes that emotionally and productively resonate. We work with our sales channel, the Music Industry (MI) media, artists and influencers to ensure we provide our customers and potential customers everything they need to fully evaluate our products and ultimately remove the barriers they often face when being creative. I am also the US lead of our Pride In Music D&I workstream, meaning positive representation and support of LGBTQ customers and artists are of utmost importance to me.

What does Pride mean to you and why do you think it is important?

Pride to me is the acceptance of yourself and the lack of shame in expressing that, despite any animosity or hostility you may face in doing so. It is separating yourself from others, just living in your own being and being satisfied that you are who you are.

I think Pride is important as it represents freedom from being bound to something, someone’s ideals or standards or judgements. It means you can hold your head high. And that is why the Pride event is important too. It allows people, en masse, to gather and feel a sense of unity, of acceptance, of freedom from judgement that is likely a daily experience for so many.

Last year we saw many Prides cancelled and it may be the same this year. Will you still celebrate digitally?

Yes, it is very important to support Pride digitally. Many folx do not have the freedoms to celebrate pride outside of the safety of their homes or their computers. An outward expression of LGBT pride could mean ostracization from your community, your family, your job to some. So whether we can gather in the streets or not, online communities will always have their place!

I also think it is important to mark Pride every year because it is a celebration of the victories of so many in the past, the struggles and battles, those before us had to go through. It also continues to give those not yet out hope and a glimpse into the welcoming community they may not be a part of yet.

What’s your best Pride memory?

I am a Brit living in Los Angeles, so every year I watch the parade with my friends and wait for the “Love is Great” Britain big red bus to come by handing out rainbow Union flag fans! It makes me homesick, but in a good way, because it makes me so proud that my home country’s tourism board believe in equality so much, that they would pay to actively promote that Britain is an accepting and Great place for LGBTQ folx to visit. (Pics attached!)

What have been the most important accomplishments for the LGBT+ community this year?

High on the list would be President Biden overturning Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military.

What do you hope is accomplished by this time next year?

Further reversal of Trumps discriminatory actions against Transgender people.

Can you tell us about your first time at Pride?

I first attended Los Angeles pride in 2012 with my (now) wife. We got married in 2017 and in those 5 years, the world turned positively upside down for queer people in California and the US.

On June 26, 2013, The Defense of Marriage Act, a United States federal law that defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages, was repealed, meaning that married same-sex couples would be entitled to federal benefits and have their relationship recognized at the federal level.

California’s Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment, which stated that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in 2010, and finally went into effect on June 26, 2013.

On June 26th, two years later in 2015 - The Supreme Court ruled that states cannot ban same-sex marriage nationwide in all 50 states. This was a truly momentous day for the LGBTQ community.

What advice would you give to someone attending Pride for the first time?

Just leave the judgements at the door and have a great time! Both attend to have fun and be proud, and maybe try and learn something about someone in a different part of the community to you. The letters LGBTQIA represent a HUGELY diverse group of people, with most really only relating to one letter! It is an opportunity to have your eyes opened. But also just be as free and open as you can be.

What can we all do to make sure Pride is inclusive for all LGBT+ people?

Education is the key here. We know both sexuality and gender are on a scale meaning that there is a lot to be done on educating one end of the scale about the other. We all have our differences, so it is about making sure all of them are celebrated.

How has your organisation decided to mark Pride this year?

We will be celebrating Pride month in June in two ways – By telling the story of some LGBTQ artists who we believe are really being their true selves and letting that shape their musical journey, and also standing up for the rights of others and really being a guiding voice in the music community. And also by creating and selling pride inspired T-shirts and donating all proceeds to LGBTQ lead charities so they can continue the amazing, world-changing work they do, to better the lives of the LGBTQ community.

Do you think it’s important for organisations to celebrate Pride?

Yes absolutely, it shows the community that organizations have their back and see them as a group worth fighting for! It encourages other organizations to be bold and stand up for the rights of all humans as well. It moves us closer to the overwhelming majority being in support, being the norm, and the oppressors, the homophobes, being the minority.

What tips would you give to an organisation celebrating Pride for the first time?

Our main goal is to be as authentic and loyal as possible. Without that we could be seen as bandwagoning, only supporting to better our brands, to gain support for more future sales. This is far from the aim. We want to help make showings of support mainstream, and show our community that we are genuine in our actions. So, I would say that to any brand, any organization wanting to celebrate Pride – be genuine, make sure you know WHY you are doing what you’re doing, and put yourself in the community’s shoes – would you want your favorite brand saying this to you or acting like this in your honor?