Boxing promoter and transgender champion Kellie Maloney spoke of her delight in visiting the future of Derry boxing before headlining a Foyle Pride event later this evening.
'An Evening with Kellie Maloney' will see Kellie discuss her journey of openly undertaking gender reassignment in the public eye.
Prior to her big event, Kellie also presented the Trans Community Awareness Award at the Foyle Pride Awards 2022.
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Kellie spoke to MyDerry about being in Derry for Foyle Pride and the community spirit she has felt while she has been here.
She said: "I have met such nice people here. The committee made me feel at home because they took me to a boxing club which was brilliant because that is really my passion. To meet the boys and the girls doing boxing at St. Josephs was a real highlight of my trip so far.
"It was really nice to be invited to Foyle Pride. I love going to Pride events, I love to see people enjoying themselves. I am a great believer that we should be proud of who we are for 365 days of the year. A very old friend of mine told me that when I was going through my own journey at a time when I hid myself away for years from the world.
"Now I use that philosophy and I pass on that message when I am at Pride events. But to come here to a Pride that is coming back into life after the pandemic, it is brilliant."
The Foyle Pride event, 'An Evening With Kellie Maloney', will take place this evening, on Tuesday August 23 from 7.00pm until 9.00pm at the City Hotel.
The discussion will go through the highs and lows that Kellie faced while stepping into her true self. Her journey was widely reported at the time due to her high-profile involvement in British boxing and helped to change the face of transgenderism and grow awareness and support for the LGBT+ community.
Kellie said: "At the event I am talking about my journey and I am hoping that it will hep others understand and be more understanding. It is all about education, it is about educating people because at the end of the day my message is it does not matter about your gender, your sexuality, we are all human beings and it is so important to get that across.
"That is what people need to understand, do not judge us by labels, judge us by how we treat each other. I am feeling really good about the event tomorrow I am really looking forward to it. I just hope they can all understand my cockney accent!"
While Kellie cannot stay for the full week of festivities, she hopes to make a return to Foyle Pride in the near future.
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