Editorial: Welcome to Pride Week 2023!

By Mariya Alfa Staugaard, editor in chief (She/Her)

For the 13th time, it is my pleasure to welcome you to our official magazine and to yet another Copenhagen Pride Week! This edition also marks the three year anniversary of HeartCore. A lot has happened since the magazine was founded in 2020 – the world certainly looks a bit different than it did back then! But through the hard work, dedication, and creativity of the editorial staff, the magazine has found its voice; and this is something that we are incredibly proud of. 

The theme for Pride Week 2023, as well as this edition of HeartCore, is COME TOGETHER. A simple statement with a multitude of meanings, it only seems fitting with the duality that is inherent in our movement. Pride is a celebration of diversity and the power of the LGBTI+ community, while also a demonstration to insist on the importance of the battles still to be fought. And when we invite you to Come Together, it is an invitation to take part in the joy as well as the fight for rights.

This balance is well encapsulated in the programme for Copenhagen Pride Week on 12-20 August. With more than 130 events, we are committed to creating spaces for difficult conversations and learning from each other – as well for festivities and the comfort of community. 

The editorial content is similarly seeking out this balance. We are proud to once again feature the work of Ilya Kharkōw, a writer from Ukraine who uses his prose as a processing tool for the absurdity and frustrations of living through a war. We will also be looking into the often divisive conversation about separatist spaces – and make the case for their validity. We will go back in time to the artwork of 17 to 19th century Japan and discover how the same-sex erotica of the time can be viewed through a contemporary lens. We have also spoken with three of Copenhagen’s LGBTI+ bars about the importance of community spaces and making them safer for everyone. All that – and much more!

Above all, Come Together remains an invitation. To look to one another with curiosity, compassion, and openness, and to dare to reject the narratives that would rather pull us apart than strengthen the bonds between us. We invite you to join us – and we wish you a very happy Pride!

• On behalf of the HeartCore editorial staff