‘First South Asian gay couple to marry in Bradford’ star in new series from Superdrug and Unilever

Superdrug and Unilever have released a series of inspiring videos exploring the lives of LGBTQ people across the UK.

One of the videos, shared online recently to mark Pride month, features Amir and Aamir, “the first South Asian gay couple to be married in Bradford.”

“We are strong as individuals, but we are a force together,” Amir says, adding: “It’s wild we come from the same town, same native languages, with the same name!”

Joining Amir and Aamir in the series, which you can watch at the Superdrug website, are AJ and Kai, two 20-something trans men from Liverpool, and the Yorkshire-based Martina, who opens up about transitioning later in life.

The fourth video focuses on Millie, a lesbian from Pimlico, while also meeting her girlfriend, family and neighbours.

As part of Superdrug and Unilever Pride activity, the companies have made a joint £50,000 donation to charity Switchboard, the second-oldest LGBT+ telephone helpline in the United Kingdom, and created limited-edition Close-Up, Vaseline, Lynx, and Simple Pride products, available exclusively in Superdrug stores throughout the year.

“We wanted to celebrate the intersections that push and grow LGBTQ+ culture”

Speaking about the project, filmmaker Jess Kohl said: “As a filmmaker, I like to show life and also learn more from life. What interested me in collaborating with Unilever and Superdrug was their commitment to shining a light on diverse individuals from the community across the UK.“In this campaign, we wanted to celebrate the intersections that push and grow LGBTQ+ culture and how we are perceived/represented. The four films we have made cannot capture all the richness of UK queer culture but it’s a start at showing some of it.”

Natasha Walker, Switchboard Co-Chair, said: “The Unilever and Superdrug Pride campaigns have made such a difference at Switchboard over the last year, not only highlighting our helpline details but also the work of our volunteers. We want our services to reach and be available to everyone in every corner of the UK. The support from Unilever and Superdrug is truly an invaluable partnership that has supported us financially but more importantly, enabled us to raise even more awareness of our helpline services so that those most in need know they have someone to turn to.“

If you need to talk to Switchboard, call 0330 330 0630 or donate by texting ‘SWITCHBOARD 5’ TO 70085.

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