Celebrating With Pride at St James’s Place: An interview With Emma Palethorpe

St James’s Place’s Emma Palethorpe shares her first Pride experience, as well as how she celebrates Pride Month personally and professionally.

Hi Emma, can you tell us a bit about your role?

My name is Emma Palethorpe and I have two roles at St James’s Place (SJP), which I affectionately refer to as my “day job” and my “gay job”.  For my day job, I’m head of change for SJP’s Asia business – we have offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.  And for my gay job, I co-chair our LGBTQ+ network, known as SJP Pride. The network exists not just to support the community but to generate awareness and drive change. 

What does Pride mean to you?

I think it's about two things. It's about celebration and education. I say celebration because coming out is still hard for a lot of people. So just actually being able to stand up and say, “This is me, this is who I am!”, is something to celebrate. On the education side, there's still a long way to go in terms of LGBTQ+ inclusion both here and overseas. It's about sharing our experiences with people who might not otherwise be aware.

Why do you think Pride is important? 

I think with Pride Month, the real power is in the scale of it all. It's a bit like when a company launches a new product, and you see it advertised everywhere. When all companies celebrate Pride at the same time, it means that there's lots of opportunity to generate awareness. Basically, you can't get away from it!

What does it mean to share your story? 

Personally, it took me a long time to come out – I was in my forties. I've now got friends that are going through similar situations, whereby they are realizing later in life who they are. The fact that they can be themselves is so important, and because I’ve been through that, I want to help others on their journey. For example, I volunteer with a youth group, GayGlos. They support 14- to 18-year-old LGBTQ+ youth in Gloucestershire. And by being a volunteer and being a leader, I can be a role model to them and help them reach a happy place.

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

The rainbow doesn't stop at LGBT. There's lots of identities beyond that that we need to consider as well. It is also important to think about intersectionality. For example, the experience of a Black gay person will be different to the experience of a White gay person. That is why organizations like myGwork are so important – because they raise awareness and organize events like Work Pride, which covers every aspect of intersectionality.

What was the first Pride you attended? How have things changed since then for the LGBTQ+ community?

The first Pride I attended was in 1994. It was in a park in East London… it was a bit like a music festival with outdoor stages and bands playing. It was a great event – I really enjoyed it. If you start to track what’s happened since then, Pride has gotten a lot bigger. But there has also been an advance in LGBTQ+ rights. Same sex marriage is now legal, for example, and trans rights are protected in the workplace through the Equality Act 2010. So, a lot of change has happened since then.

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

My number one top tip is to wear comfy shoes. You’re going to be on your feet all day and doing a lot of dancing… so while those sparkly stilettos might look great, your feet will hate you for it! The other thing is to just let yourself go. Just talk to people. Pride is perhaps the friendliest event on the planet – people want to talk to each other and socialize. So just go and have a good time. 

What is your final message about Pride?

Of course, it’s important to engage people with opportunities to educate and create awareness, but make sure you focus on the fun side as well. Pride should be about celebration too.