Community / Shetland Pride calls on islanders to support LGBTQIA+ community
THE COMMITTEE behind Shetland Pride has made a public appeal calling on the local community to embrace the festival and join in the fun this coming weekend.
Writing on the festival’s Facebook page, committee chair Gary Mouat said this year’s Pride “feels a lot more poignant (…) than ever”.
Referring to events in the UK and further afield, Mouat said “hard won legal rights” and freedoms for the global LGBTQIA+ community have started to feel fragile and are beginning to erode.
He said Trump’s America and the recent Supreme Court ruling on gender recognition have demonstrated “just how unsafe and unstable our western bubbles actually are”.
The 36-year old has been involved with the local festival since it started in 2022, and has been its chairperson for the last three and half years.
He describes the enthusiasm and excitement with which Pride has been embraced by the local community as “nothing short of amazing”, but adds that there continues to be bigotry and prejudice.
Earlier this month Shetland News had to block comments on one of its stories announcing this year’s Pride festival because the extent of homophobic and transphobic comments became intolerable.
Mouat said bigotry is something “that you try not to let bother you, but being in the position I have, and speaking to so many young Shetlanders who just don’t want to live here because they don’t feel like they can fully express themselves without being treated differently, does make you despair”.
He added: “We all know how the Shetland rumour mill works (…), so the risk of discussing your same-sex feelings or gender preference, even with friends, means that for a lot of people the discussion is never had.”
And yet: “Shetland Pride is such an amazing show of support from the community. It shows that folk aren’t alone in how they feel, and that the community are, largely, completely ok with it.”
The full text of his thoughts on the importance of Shetland Pride and why it needs to happen here and across the globe, can be found here.
This year’s Shetland Pride festival starts at 11am from Lerwick’s Market Cross for the colourful parade to the Gilbertson Park where the Shetland Pride village will be open all afternoon.
In the evening there will be a youth party in the Lerwick Legion and an over-18s party at the Sound Hall, both starting at 8pm.
Meanwhile Shetland Pride have confirmed they received a complaint about the planned inclusion of drag performers at the youth party, and are meeting with the SIC on Thursday to discuss the issues raised.
In a short statement, the group said: “The youth party is a family-friendly event, designed to give young people a safe, inclusive space to celebrate Pride. The drag performers joining us — Daddy Delight, Ivy the Queen, and Krystal Klear — are experienced professionals who regularly perform at events specifically for young people across the UK.
“We want to make it absolutely clear: there will be no nudity, all performances will be age-appropriate, the event is supervised, inclusive, and carefully curated with the wellbeing of young people at its heart.
“Drag is about creativity, self-expression, joy, and celebration, values that align perfectly with what Pride is all about. “Unfortunately, in recent years, drag has become a target for misinformation, with claims that simply aren’t true.
“We strongly reject the harmful narrative that drag is inappropriate or dangerous for young people. That kind of rhetoric is rooted in stigma and prejudice, and has no place in our community.”
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