As LGBTQ+ History month comes to a close, we would like to take this moment to highlight a movie night and panel discussion we hosted with ITV on the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in the media.

To celebrate this month we joined together with clients and colleagues in the media industry, and the event was hosted by Iris, DLA Piper’s LGBTQ+ people network, in collaboration with ITV’s Pride network and InterMedia UK.

Cai Cherry, Iris London Co-Lead and ITV’s Dougie Robertson organised and opened the event. We screened the film ‘From A to Q’, courtesy of Lesflicks, followed by a panel discussion, moderated by senior associate Harry Jefferies, featuring director and editor Emmalie El Fadli, partner Matt Evans, actress and performer Jaz Terry, and script editor Elle Van Lil from ITV’s Tall Story Pictures.

The conversation covered issues across the media and entertainment landscape for the LGBTQ+ community, including the importance of representation and visibility of queer people, and the power of the arts in changing hearts and minds. Emmalie spoke about how her films try to move beyond stereotypical portrayals of lesbians and explored the nuance of personality inherent in all people. Matt told of how the landscape has changed so much over the last few decades, from ‘Brokeback Mountain’ to ‘Sex Education’, and Jaz reminded us of the importance of having seats at the decision-making table. Elle shared how her experiences of writing and editing scripts have shaped her perspective of LGBTQ+ media and her commitment to improving the industry for LGBTQ+ people.

This event gave us the opportunity to reflect on how the media and arts have shaped our own lives, and how we can also shape the media and arts as a community. It was a powerful event with a range of diverse perspectives shared by our panellists, and a fantastic opportunity to meet people from across the industry and develop relationships.

It has been a difficult 12 months for the LGBTQ+ community in many ways, which is why opportunities to come together are even more impactful and valuable. Thank you to everyone that supported and attended the event.

If you would like to learn more about what Diversity & Inclusion means for DLA Piper, please click here.