We want tangible change,” says Gueye, “and doing that with our community happens at a grassroots level.” The organisation is funded for the next 18 months by independent foundation Thirty Percy. Earlier this month, Gueye and Eldridge-Tull ran for Labour in district and local council elections respectively, determined to make change through local policy. Neither won. “But we realise that if we want to make real, systemic change, we have to do it through policy,” said Gueye. “And that involves being part of the council to push for equality.” Don'T Make This Ginger Snap shirt,Ginger AF T-Shirt,Ginger Gift,Red Head Tee, Ginger Shirt, Redhead Shirt,Redhead Gift, Ginger Lives Matter Halle Bailey, who will play Ariel in the new Disney live-action remake of The Little Mermaid. Photograph: Rebecca Cabage/Invision/AP

On 17 June, Harper, who may be best known as the immigration minister responsible for sending vans encouraging illegal immigrants to “go home” around parts of London, appeared to encourage an online pile-on against Eldridge-Tull, who had a tenth of his 30,000 followers, and demanded she apologise to the local community for tweeting: “The reaction to the BLM protest in Lydney has brought to light so much support, but so much hate. I love where I live, but I’m ashamed of my neighbours, and ashamed to be part of a community that has so widely endorsed and exacerbated racial hatred.” I think it speaks volumes that BAME people are still willing to protest for their human rights even though they are disproportionately affected by the pandemic,” wrote Gueye. “Maybe this should highlight the severity of the inequality in our society”.

Some have gone further, arguing that the UK's uniquely aggressive gingerism is indeed a form of racism, rooted in anti-Celtic, specifically anti-Irish, prejudice and therefore related to centuries-old matters of imperialism, religious bigotry and war. There may be some truth in that, but those roots are now buried as deep as the recessive genetic mutations in our MC1R proteins. Other forms of oppression are not only current, they are woven into the very fabric of our society. Likewise, no one has been putting up posters recently calling for me to be executed for gingerness. There are no respected religious leaders telling me that my very existence is sinful and that I'm heading for an eternity in hell. Nobody wishes to bar me from marrying my partner, wherever and however we choose, because she has (peculiarly, I will be the first to admit) fallen in love with a ginger.

For that matter, if we ever did get married, neither she nor I have grown up in a world where I could be raped with impunity as the effective property of the non-ginger party. Nobody would have ever denied me a mortgage under my own name, as happened during our parents' generation, or asked to talk to the non-ginger of the house about technical or mechanical matters. I haven't heard any politicians or newspaper headlines, this week or any other, assume that if one of us stays at home to look after the kids it will inevitably be the redhead. The reported incidents included doing an internet search for “gingerphobia” during a lesson, which “led to a child in the class with red hair being teased by his classmates and getting upset”. Ginger Lives Matter Unisex T-shirt, Adult & Kids Fun Comedy tee shirt, Funny Ginger People Joke, Novelty GiftGinger lives matter mens t shirt unisex funny joke slogan parody humour red head inspired hair novelty power birthday present gift Yet the racial justice debate became so sore locally that even now, a year later, interviewees bristle at the mention of BLM. Some become deeply uncomfortable and are unwilling to give voice to their feelings on the subject. Even those who declare themselves as anti-racist allies later withdraw their consent for being mentioned, for fear of “any negative association”. One woman messaged: “We are a positive [business] and positive people and have found our community to be the same”, as if discussion on achieving racial and social justice might not actually be a positive thing. Ginger Shirt | Redhead Shirt | Proud Ginger | GInger Lives Matter | Ginger Gift | Redhead Gift | Ginger Strong | Unisex Redhead Tee