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Continue to celebrate women throughout the year with Helen Virt

Helen Virt

Women have been left out from our history and overlooked far too often. Women’s History Month is a time to showcase the talent and creativity that lives within our female-identifying community. 

Revry honors the contributions made by women to our history and society to provide recognition and encouragement of a more inclusive future. Directors, actresses, writers, and more; we’ll be interviewing creative and inspirational women who make a difference with their art. 

Helen Virt is the head of business development at Taimi, an LGBTQ+ social networking and dating app. Taimi was recently recognized by GAY TIMES for its efforts to improve the lives of people in the LGBTQ+ community. Taimi, which is proclaimed as the ‘Home of Diversity’, is best described by Helen: “From the get go Taimi was built on the foundation of inclusivity and diversity. Our platform is designed for all LGBTQ+ people regardless of where they identify on the gender and sexuality spectrum.”

What does Women’s History Month month mean to you?

Women’s History Month to me means that it is the time to step back and reflect on the incredible accomplishments of women. I believe that we have to celebrate women throughout the year, but having a month to learn about the achievements and contributions of amazing artists, scientists, entrepreneurs to our history is extremely important. It is a great opportunity to find inspiration and support from women and learn about womanhood in all its senses. It is also the time to bring out the issues concerning all women regardless of their color, shape, sexuality, etc.

There are so many unacknowledged women who made history. Is there a women creator that has impacted your work?

Indeed, there are many women whose work has gone unacknowledged, and it is our duty to talk about that fact more often, and bring it to the forefront.  I am a woman in tech, a culture that was largely dominated by men in the past, but it is swiftly changing. A woman that I find inspirational in the tech world is Leanne Pittsford. She is the founder of Lesbians Who Tech, one of the largest LGBTQ+ community of technologists in the world that inspires queer, nonbinary, LGBTQ women as well as their allies to be visible in the tech world. 

Another inspiration of mine is Lady Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, a political activist, co-founder of UK Black Pride and executive director of Kaleidoscope Trust who is instrumental in changing the laws concerning LGBTQ people. 

History is inspirational to future generations. What advice would you give the next generation of women creators?

My advice would be  - strive to be the best version of yourself. Speak out against injustice, fight for what you believe in, don’t be afraid to fall and get up. I know it may sound like a cliche, but if the women before us were unafraid to take on seemingly insurmountable tasks - we shouldn’t be either.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Revry has curated a powerful collection of stories told by female artists featuring films, TV series, music, and more.