In 1972, the first ever Pride demonstration in the UK took place, three years after the monumental Stonewall riots in New York, which propelled the movement for LGBT+ rights.
Now 50 years later, Pride Month is a globally-recognised event that is cause for celebration, commemoration and conversation to address what more can be done to ensure that everyone has an equal right to live as their true selves.
Today, Love, Victor season 3 drops on Disney Plus in the UK and Hulu in the US, completing the story of Victor (Michael Cimino) – a teenage boy who begins the series unsure about his sexuality, before eventually coming out as gay.
In the third and final season, viewers will discover where Victor’s heart lies after becoming entangled in a love triangle with his boyfriend Benji (George Sear) and his friend Rahim (Anthony Keyvan), as well as following the rest of the cast as they embark on new journeys and experiences.
Metro.co.uk recently spoke to the cast and creators of Love, Victor to find out what Pride means to them and how they feel about being a part of a show that not only represents LGBT+ people, but has been released in the celebratory and commemorative time of Pride Month.
Michael Cimino – Victor
Pride is about embracing who you are as a person and so much of that is exciting. Pride is a very exciting time for so many people.
It’s a time where they feel surrounded by people that embrace who they are, because you have this sense of community that you might not have had growing up or at home, but you have it in the streets, when you’re walking the streets and you’re celebrating Pride. That says something.
The companies that say that they support Pride just get extra money, that says something else. But we’re not going to talk about that right now, that’s a whole other issue.
George Sear – Benji
I think Pride is all about celebrating who you are and love, really. It does feel really amazing to be part of this show, because it’s had such a positive impact.
It’s very nice to hear responses, whether it’s through social media, how people connected to it, or in person, when people say things like, ‘I wish I had a show like this growing up.’ It’s clearly having an impact and I just feel very proud to be part of that.
The Pride March in London for instance, it just feels like there’s so much love there. That’s an amazing thing.
Anthony Keyvan – Rahim
I think this month is really important. It’s not only a time to celebrate queer peopel and people of the LGBTQIA+ community, it’s also a reminder of the work that we still need to do in terms of securing safety and overall a sense of happiness for these people.
I think being on a show like Love, Victor, having it premiere at this time is perfect because at this time, queer people are looking for a sense of community and love more than ever during this month, and I think this show really brings that for those people.
Ava Capri – Lucy
Being a part of Love, Victor, it’s so hopeful. So many queer stories are about trauma and pain and while trauma and pain are addressed, the feel that you get from Love, Victor is this warm hug about queerness, which sometimes the world, it doesn’t always feel like that. I think that’s one of the beautiful things about the show.
Pride is I feel like… the world has become so open, at least in certain areas, and the fact that we have a show like Love, Victor that is so unapologetically centres a queer lead and queer characters is amazing. Pride is so much fun and I love that Love, Victor comes out during Pride because it makes so much sense.
Anthony Turpel – Felix
I think the more stories the better, and the fact that we were able to be a part of this was incredible. I think all of us kept on hearing, ‘I wish I had this when I was a kid.’
So to be able to be a part of a show where it affects that many people is just lovely.
Isabella Ferreira – Pilar
It feels incredible, it’s very empowering. Everyone deserves to feel represented and to see themselves and their stories on TV and in the movies, so it’s just an incredible experience to be a part of something that has made that happen.
The story is just so genuine and real, and we don’t only have a diverse cast in real life, we have it behind the scenes as well, so it’s been great overall.
Mateo Fernandez – Adrian
To be in a position where you can change people’s lives, change how they think, and impact them, it’s really amazing. I’ve loved being in this show and being part of this. We have so much representation in the show, and it’s really special because that’s not something you see often.
Imagine how it was 10 years ago. It’s definitely changed now. It was not as common back then. I think it’s really special.
Brian Tanen – executive producer
I would say I think to myself when I was the age that these characters are on the show, the idea… I had the inklings I was gay but I hadn’t 100% figured it out or put a name to it. If you had told me that my adult self would be rushing toward working on a show that was so embracing of LGBTQIA issues, I would have been completely shocked.
I was so trying to run away from that part of myself when I was a young person, and now it’s like the only kind of thing I want to work on.
Pride just means to me accepting and loving yourself, and I think this show is so hugely about that. It’s really life-affirming to work on something like this.
Elizabeth Berger – executive producer and co-creator
It’s our point of view that everybody out there deserves to be loved and valued and treasured regardless of who they love or regardless of any orientation.
To launch the show at this moment during this month is just perfect to us, because that’s how we feel in our hearts and that’s how we feel and that’s what we feel the point of view of the show is.
Isaac Aptaker – executive producer and co-creator
Everybody deserves to be represented. If you were lucky enough to grow up seeing stories that you connected to on TV, it’s easy to forget that’s not the case for huge chunks of the population.
The response of people just saying, ‘I’ve never seen a character like me on a big high budget Disney-produced TV show before,’ makes you realise these types of stories are so important.
All three seasons of Love, Victor are available to watch on Disney Plus and Hulu in the US.
Credit: SourceYou can read this post on My Celebrity Life.
