Why
We built the nights. Now we are building the standard.
The Glitter Standard did not start in a meeting room. It started on dance floors, in the moment you see someone realise they are safe, and in the nights when they were not.
Sully
Stephen Sullivan started Glitterbomb to make club nights that were safe and inclusive for the LGBTQIA+ community. What became clear night after night was bigger than the party: a space that is welcoming to everyone is better for everyone in it. Allyship is not a slogan; it is what happens when a straight lad on a stag do, a group of students, a drag performer and a couple in their sixties are all having the same good night in the same room.
After more than twenty-five years in events and entertainment, this is the moment to carry that on. Not just for the nights Glitterbomb runs, but for the pubs, bars, clubs, unions and clubhouses that want to get it right and have never had a way to prove it.
The standard behind the nights
Glitterbomb proved that a night built for the LGBTQIA+ community is a better night for everyone in the room. The Glitter Standard takes what those nights do by instinct and turns it into something any venue can learn, evidence and be tested on.
The Glitter Standard is governed independently of Glitterbomb Events under a published firewall. Booking a Glitterbomb night never earns a badge; only passing does.
Why now
Hate has not gone anywhere
Almost a third of LGBTQIA+ people avoid certain venues for fear of discrimination. A third of trans people were discriminated against in a bar or club in the last year. Hate crime on the ground of sexual orientation and transgender identity is still rising in police data. A badge that says everyone is welcome should be checked.
Violence against women and girls
The same doors, the same staff and the same moment of intervention protect women from harassment and protect a queer couple from abuse. That is why Ask for Angela sits at the centre of what we train and test, and why the Standard lines up behind the initiatives already doing this work rather than competing with them.
The people most often failed
One in ten young adults is LGB. One in five students declares a disability. Autistic declarations have doubled. Neurodivergent guests, disabled guests and guests who do not drink are the people venues train for least. Welcome is not a niche.
Sources: Stonewall/YouGov 2017 and 2018; ONS 2023 and 2024; Home Office hate crime statistics; HESA and Advance HE. Full evidence spine published in our Foundations pack.
Why a standard, not a sticker
Because good intentions do not survive a change of manager, a busy Saturday or a door team that has never been told. Training people, checking it and being willing to take a badge down is the only version of welcome that lasts.
If something happens to you tonight
Support, whoever and wherever you are. These appear on every Glittered poster.
Galop LGBT+ anti-abuse charity. galop.org.uk
Switchboard LGBTQIA+ listening service, 10am to 10pm every day. switchboard.lgbt- Report It Report a hate crime online. 999 in an emergency. report-it.org.uk
Stop Hate UK Third-party reporting and support. stophateuk.org
National Autistic Society autism.org.uk
Samaritans Call 116 123 free, any time. samaritans.org
Talk to us
Twenty minutes, no cost, no commitment. Tell us who you are and where you are and we will tell you what the route looks like.
hello@theglitterstandard.co.uk
Accreditation, partnerships and press: Matthew Jones-Roberts. Events and the Glitterbomb tour: Stephen Sullivan.