Hello,👋🏽 my name is Ashton and I am Patchwork's People Ops Executive. My (most used) pronouns are he/him/his and I Identify as a queer, cisgender-male … and a Sagittarius ♐

To me, pride means standing in my power as both a Caribbean man and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It means loving every piece of who I am unconditionally and walking with my head held high. Always. When I see the Rainbow flag I think about the importance of visibility and representation in the fight for equality.

I define an ally as a person who understands and accepts the importance of equal rights/treatment of all people regardless of who they are and how they identify. And a person who will speak up when those rights are not respected.

I think a person can be a good ally by showing empathy, kindness and respect to everyone and by leaving the judging to Judy. In terms of dos and don’ts I would say: definitely do feel comfortable to fill gaps in your knowledge by asking questions (remembering that empathy and kindness I mentioned earlier) or doing your own research and don’t ask questions about gender roles in LGBTQ+ relationships. If in doubt, remember that we are all human and we should treat members of the LGBTQ+ community the same way we treat everyone else.