Lawrence Chaney, Dan Howell and more to talk mental health with Attitude and Student Pride – attitude.co.uk
Following a year that has seen LGBTQ people separated by lockdowns and social restrictions, prominent queer figures are set to join Attitude at National Student Pride for a no-holds-barred discussion about mental health.
Drag Race UK winner Lawrence Chaney, internet superstar Dan Howell, model and activist Munroe Bergdorf and author Natasha Devon will join Attitude editor-in-chief Cliff Joannou from 7pm BST on Monday 19 April for a virtual broadcast focusing on the isolation and loneliness felt by many LGBTQ people this year. (You can tune in free by registering here).
Lawrence Chaney, who was crowned winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series two last month, opens up about their past struggles with mental health and bullying at school in the Attitude Tea Time digital special in association with TAIMI, available to download now.
“I’d sit in the library and eat my lunch, even though you weren’t meant to” recalls Lawrence. “I just felt so isolated, and embarrassed of being isolated, as well. So, it’s just been a kind of constant battle.”
Dan Howell, who is set to release mental health guide You Will Get Through This Night next month, previously offered mental health advice for LGBTQ people as part of an exclusive Attitude YouTube series.
“That experience, going to school, when you feel like you’re the only gay in the village, as it were? You need to go out there, and find the people who make you feel less alone. It’s so important,” said Dan at the time.
“Lots of us can feel lonely and isolated, which is why finding your tribe can be liberating.”
Munroe Bergdorf, who has fronted campaigns for the likes of L’Oreal, was previously honoured with the Hero Award at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar.
The media personality and campaigner deleted her activism-based Twitter account earlier this year, publicly declaring that the app was “unsafe for trans people”.
“No one should have to endure even a fraction of the abuse that I am exposed to and have to put up with on a daily basis,” Bergdorf wrote.
Lawrence, Dan and Munroe will be joined by author and mental health campaigner Natasha Devon, whose books on the topic include A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z from Anxiety to Zero F**ks Given.
In 2017, Natasha launched the Mental Health Media Charter; a set of 7 seven simple guidelines for ensuring imagery and language used in mental health reporting is responsible, genuinely educational and stigma-reducing.
The Attitude Mental Health Panel is part of this year’s digital edition of National Student Pride, a week-long festival of incredible content and the biggest gathering of LGBTQ+ students in the UK.
Other highlights will be a rare interview with It’s a Sin star and recent Attitude Icon Award recipient Stephen Fry on Saturday 24 April from 3.30pm BST April, as well as an hour-long show hosted by BBC Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw and BFF Aimee Phillips on Wednesday 21 April from 7pm BST.
Meanwhile, queen of daytime TV Lorraine Kelly will be joined by Drag Race UK stars Lawrence Chaney and Tia Kofi for the campest of online quizzes, ‘Cheers, Queers!’ on Sunday 25 April from 7pm.
National Student Pride takes place from 19-25 April and is free to watch online – all you have to do is register here.