Building Inclusion
Today, while the community can still face real challenges, more LGBTQ+ people than ever before feel empowered to live their lives openly and authentically.
Launched in the UK in 2019 as the first sustained, structured initiative of its kind, Racing Pride has been crucial to starting and advancing meaningful conversations around LGBTQ+ inclusion from grassroots motorsport to Formula One. Racing Pride has, so far, worked with six of the ten Formula One teams, and has Ambassadors, Community Champions, and members across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia.
Richard Morris is CEO and Co-Founder of Racing Pride. Alongside leading Racing Pride, Richard is also a successful racing driver who has competed in a range of categories from karting to superkarts, Formula Ford 1600 single-seaters, sports prototypes, and GT cars. In 2023, Richard won the European Sports Prototype Cup, the BRM Chronographes UK-European Trophy, and the prestigious Dutch Supercar Challenge Zandvoort Trophy of the Dunes as a works driver for Revolution Race Cars. Having been closeted for the majority of his career since starting kart racing at the age of 12, Richard came out in motorsport in late 2018, wanting to change the lack of visible LGBTQ+ representation and allyship in the sport.
It’s about putting in place the role-models motorsport has been lacking and actively demonstrating that motorsport is open to everyone.
Charlie is a British racing driver and LGBTQ+ activist. She has raced successfully in multiple disciplines including single seaters, GT cars and sports cars. She transitioned mid-way through her career and works with leading LGBTQ+ charities Stonewall, Mermaids, and Athlete Ally as well as Racing Pride to improve visibility, acceptance and inclusion in motorsport. In 2020 she finished 4th in class at the Nürburgring 24hr in a BMW M240i, and now works with BMW as a Friend of the Brand. In 2022 she finished 2nd in the North American Lamborghini Cup with teammate and OSOM Products CEO Jason Keats. In 2024 she raced with Iron Lynx in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe.
Creating access and opportunity for others and those around you is not just the right thing to do; it positively impacts so many other areas.
Zandara "Zee" Kennedy, from Vancouver, Canada is a professional drift racer competing across North America in Formula Drift. She is also a professional stunt performer and stunt driver - if you watch movies or TV, you've most likely seen her in action, maybe even on fire. She has featured in, for example, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), RoboCop (2014), and The Predator (2018). She is a Racing Pride ambassador and promotes access to drift racing for underrepresented communities.
The bigger issue is that a lot of people don’t understand why it’s important. They’re not against it, they just don’t see what the big deal is.
Abbie is a two-time British Champion racing driver and an ambassador for Racing Pride. She’s raced in various echelons of motorsport, including go-karts, saloon and touring cars, Rallycross, GT and Formula 3. She’s also known as the test driver for Amazon Prime’s hit TV show, The Grand Tour, working alongside Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, setting lap times on the Eboladrome, and joining them on their exotic challenges. In 2023 Abbie co-founded Rebelleo Motorsport and, in 2024, she became the first female driver to win in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
If I can help people feel comfortable in their own skin just by being me, that's definitely a positive thing to be a part of.
Jessica is a trailblazing kart racer from Glasgow, Scotland. A Racing Pride ambassador, in 2024 Jessica became the first openly trans woman to win a Motorsport UK governed karting championship by claiming a title at Warden Law circuit. She has achieved prolific success in endurance karting, including dominating the 2023 and 2024 British Prokart Endurance Championship series. She is a former British Universities Karting Champion and manages the Apollo Karts team through which she encourages young talent into the sport.
“To anyone from the LGBT+ community, to anyone who wants to get involved in this sport, you are welcome, there is a community for you, and you can not only be involved – but be successful.”
Jessica is Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team’s Head of F1 Academy and Driver Ambassador. She has raced in a variety of series including W Series, TCR UK Touring Car Championship, and, in 2024, British GT. She is also a stunt driver and, in 2021, took part in the filming for the James Bond film No Time To Die. In 2023 Jessica completed a Formula One test at the Hungaroring, near Budapest, driving the AMR21.
Ultimately, I believe the work done collectively by my generation of female drivers will have a positive influence on the generations to come
Matt is a Formula 1 communications expert, journalist, editor, biographer and novelist. One of the founding ambassadors of Racing Pride and a leading advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion, he has worked alongside some of Formula One’s most prominent figures including vocal LGBTQ+ advocates Sir Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. He has served as Communications Director for the McLaren and Aston Martin Formula One teams and was a member of the senior leadership team of W Series.
He is now a regular columnist for Motor Sport Magazine, a presenter of the podcast And Colossally That’s History, and Managing Director of Diagonal Comms. Matt also authored The Boy Made The Difference (2020); a novel set amidst the HIV/AIDS crisis and based on his experiences volunteering for London Lighthouse which was a leading centre for the treatment of HIV/AIDS at the height of the crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Things are improving for LGBTQ+ people in motorsport, which is great, but there’s still work to do
With her seven Italian Championships, three US national titles, and three Women’s World Championship titles, motocross rider Stefy Bau is one of the fastest female riders the sport has known. She is also openly lesbian. In 2005, Stefy became the first woman to compete against the men in the Motocross World Championship and in the same year, unfortunately, a major injury ended Stefy’s racing career. After this she worked for the FIM Women’s Commission and became the general manager of the Women’s World Championship. In 2019, Stefy co-founded Init Esports, an esports agency with a focus on diversity and inclusion.
Toni Kelly was born in Donegal, Ireland. Her father owned a garage and sponsored a lot of racing drivers, so she was exposed to racing and rally from an early age.
Passing her driving test at the age of 17, she gained her rally licence only two months later. Toni quickly achieved success in her sport, becoming WRC Class Winner in the Rally Ireland in 2007 and 2009. Toni later opened her own driving school, became a TV motorsport presenter and now focusses on her hypnotherapy practice.
Subscribe for updates
Get our latest news and events straight to your inbox.