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Munroe Bergdorf and Lady Phyll among Britain’s Queer Black community celebrated in new BET film

The film celebrates the community's movement from underground to out and proud.

By Alastair James

Words: Alastair James; pictures: BET International

The legacy of the Black British LGBTQ community is being celebrated by BET (Black Entertainment Television) UK with a new film, Moments That Shaped: Queer Black Britain.

Directed by Topher Campbell, the 44-minute film is narrated by the award-winning comedian and author Gina Yashere will debut on My5 on 1 June.

Moments celebrates the community’s movement from underground to out and proud.

The film explores the struggles that Britain’s Black Queer community has faced along the way and culminates at 2019’s UK Black Pride in Haggerston Park in Hackney – the largest ever.

With archival footage and dramatic reconstructions, this film also features personal testimonies from some of the community’s most prominent figures including activists Ajamu X and Marc Thompson, and the journalist Kuchenga Shenje.

Doctor, presenter, and Attitude Pride Award winner, Dr. Ronx Ikharia, athlete Corinne Humphreys, and the founder of UK Black Pride, Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also feature.

“You cannot be what you cannot see,” Lady Phyll says in the trailer (above)

On Twitter, BET shared a clip featuring activist Ted Brown discussing joining the Gay Liberation Front.

Cicelia Deane, Editorial and Commissioning Executive for BET UK, says, “I’m delighted to give a platform to such a significant part of UK Black history. It’s really important for key moments in the Queer Black British timeline to be both celebrated and immortalized in film.”

Moments That Shaped: Queer Black Britain will be available on My5 from 1 June.

The Attitude May/June issue is out now.