NYX Professional Makeup launches ‘Proudly Pro-You’ to support LGBTQ people of colour

Words: Joseph Kocharian: pictures: NYX Professional Makeup

NYX Professional Makeup has launched its new platform Proudly Pro-You. In partnership with UK Black Pride (UKBP) and Stonewall, the initiative aims to improve the lives of LGBTQIA+ people of colour.

UKBP’s We Will be Heard survey was a response in part to the UK Government’s 2017 National LGBTQ Survey where 94.2 percent of the respondents were white. The survey failed to consider how race impacts the lived experience of Black people and people of colour within LGBTQIA+ communities. 

Left to right: stuntwoman Ayesha Hussain; pop singer Jason Kwan; makeup artist Yaw; TikTok’s Lily-Rose and actor Ki Griffin

The We Will Be heard survey showed some very discouraging information: 

– 75 percent of respondents felt their local LGBTQIA+ spaces were not welcoming to Black people and people of colour.

– 82 percent said they did not feel represented by LGBTQIA+ media in the UK. 

– 47 percent have been insulted, pestered, intimidated, or harassed in person. 

– 39 percent of respondents have been insulted, pestered, and harassed online in the past year. 

Based on these findings, commissioned at the beginning of the partnership, NYX Professional Makeup is funding UKBP’s first community action plan, which will distribute grants to organisations supporting LGBTQIA+ people of colour with their mental health, in the workplace, with safety in public spaces and in creating welcoming local spaces. 

They’re also supporting five rising LGBTQIA+ stars – Yaw, Lily, Ki Griffin, Jason, and Ayesha Hussain – and have enlisted Drag Race UK’s Tayce, Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney, model Carmen Tran, and pop star Anne-Marie to be loud and proud champions of Proudly Pro-You. 

For more information or to view the full report please visit nyxcosmetics.co.uk/proudly-pro-you