Why we are doing this
It started on a dance floor.
The Glitter Standard did not start in a meeting room. It started at Glitterbomb events, in the moment you see someone realise they are safe, and in the nights when they were not.
The Glitterbomb story
Glitterbomb started in Canterbury in 2012 as a club night for the LGBTQIA+ community: drag, disco, confetti and somewhere you can be entirely yourself and entirely safe.
Since then it has run hundreds of nights in more than 25 cities across the UK and Europe, alongside venues, students' unions and Prides. It is a brilliant night out and it has taught us more about welcome than any training course.
It has also taught us what happens when it goes wrong. Soon after Glitterbomb started, a trans woman was turned away from one of its events because the name on her ID did not match how she looked. The door team were not hostile; they did not know the rule, and there was no rule to know. By the time someone found a manager she had gone home.
The difference between good intentions and a trained team is the whole reason The Glitter Standard exists.
That night was the catalyst. It is not the whole story. Everyone should have an equal chance of a great night out and be seen as a person, not a label, whoever they are.
Every venue Glitterbomb plays learns the same things: how to brief a door, how to act when someone asks for Angela, how to make a trans guest feel unremarkable at the bar. The Glitter Standard is those lessons written down, so any venue can learn them, evidence them and be tested on them.
Glitterbomb, September 2026.
Who is behind it
The Glitter Standard was founded by two people who have spent decades in events, licensing and the night-time economy and who care about inclusion more than they care about being named. It is owned by a community interest company that belongs to nobody, led by a Standards Council of experts with lived experience, and governed independently of Glitterbomb Events under a published firewall: booking a Glitterbomb event never earns a badge; only passing does.
What we stand for.
That means every strand of diversity, not one. We train staff to be aware and understanding and we make sure a venue's policies and procedures protect its guests and its team. It is equity, not only equality: treating people fairly is not always treating them identically and some guests need something a little different to have the same good night.
The Standard covers everyone the Equality Act protects. LGBTQIA+ inclusion and neurodiversity sit at the heart of how we train, and four strands carry specialist training and criteria, because these are the guests most often failed on a night out.
LGBTQIA+ inclusion
Sexual orientation and gender reassignment, with bisexual, trans and non-binary guests named rather than assumed. Two thirds of LGBTQ+ Britons say a visible sign of welcome in a small public place makes them feel safer there. A badge that has been checked is that sign.
Neurodiversity
Autism, ADHD and related differences. The venue publishes its own sensory information before you arrive and follows a needs-led rule: nobody is ever asked for proof of a diagnosis.
Disability
Most disabled people are not wheelchair users, and many LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent guests are disabled too. Every Glittered venue keeps a current listing on Euan's Guide.
Race and faith
An anti-discrimination door rule in every strand, non-inclusive incidents logged and reported, and a proper welcome for guests who do not drink, for whatever reason.
Welcome is not a niche.
Hate has not gone anywhere
Police in England and Wales recorded 18,702 hate crimes against people for their sexual orientation and 3,809 against trans people in the year to March 2025: 61 a day, and more than double a decade ago. The Home Office says most are never reported. 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.
Sources: Home Office, Hate crime, England and Wales, year ending March 2025; YouGov 2025; ONS 2023 and 2024; HESA and Advance HE. Every figure is on the evidence page.
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
Whoever and wherever you are. These appear on every Glittered poster.
- GalopLGBT+ anti-abuse charity. galop.org.uk
- SwitchboardLGBTQIA+ listening service, 10am to 10pm every day. switchboard.lgbt
- Report ItReport a hate crime online. 999 in an emergency. report-it.org.uk
- Ask for AngelaAsk any member of staff for Angela and they will help you leave discreetly.
- National Autistic SocietySupport and information for autistic people and families. autism.org.uk
- SamaritansCall 116 123 free, any time. samaritans.org
Start with a conversation.
A free 15 minute call, no commitment. Tell us who you are and where you are and we will tell you what the route looks like. Or start with the readiness check.
Email hello@theglitterstandard.co.uk, or use the form and we will reply within two working days. One inbox for accreditation, partnerships, press and the Glitterbomb tour.