Forth Valley Pride
Pride has been such an important part of LGBTQIA+ culture and history, since the first pride marches took place in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago in the 70’s. Since then, Pride has grown, and parades and marches are now held worldwide. In Scotland, the most known parades are held in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Pride is such an incredible opportunity for people to come together and celebrate diversity, and it should continue to grow and expand.
Would Forth Valley Pride be something that could be successful? Accessing Glasgow and Edinburgh can still be difficult to get to from the Forth Valley area. There are financial and physical barriers for a lot of people that stops them being able to access these cities in a safe and reliable way.
Creative Stirling, in collaboration with The University of Stirling and LGBT Youth Scotland, have created a consultation to find out what the community think. Do residents of Forth Valley want their own Pride event to happen? Where should this be held, and what type of events/activities should take place?
The consultation was created to establish if there was initially an interest in holding Pride within the area, and if so, what would the community like to see from this. Questions were asked like ‘which month would work best?’ – ‘what elements would make a great pride…’ and included options like live entertainment, family activities, quiet spaces etc. Other questions focused on accessibility, and what the community thinks would make the event more accessible and inclusive (such as BLS interpreters, wheelchair accessibility, mental health first aiders, etc).
The form is only 10 questions long, making it super quick and easy to fill in. The purpose of the consultation is to gain a collection of opinions and preferences from the people of Forth Valley, so that it is tailored to the people’s wants, needs, input and aspirations of the community.
We have had an incredible response so far. The consultation was due to close on the 10th of October, however we have extended this until the 26th of October, to allow us more time to promote throughout Clacks & Falkirk. So there is still time to share your thoughts! You can either access this via the link below or come into Made in Stirling where you can fill in a paper form.
On the 28th of September, I took a trip to Falkirk and went around some High Street businesses to see if they would be interested in displaying a poster for their customers to fill in and to further promote the consultation throughout the whole of Forth Valley. The poster features QR code, so that viewers can scan it with their phone, and will be directed straight to the online form.
I went to local cafes (such as Pots, 4 Coo Wynd and Aroma), bookstores (such as Waterstones and The Seagulls Trust), businesses (such as the Lonely Broomstick and Midtown Tattoo Parlour) and others. The trip was very successful, and it was amazing to see the enthusiasm and support that the businesses gave.
Creative Stirling were awarded funding from Youthlink Scotland to deliver creative sessions for LGBT Youth Scotland’s Triangle and FK1 group. If you are aged 13-25, living in Falkirk, Clacks or Stirling, and are interested in joining their group, please get in touch with Barry at barry.jordan@lgbtyouth.org.uk.
Link to the consultation can be found here.
Written by Creative Stirling Community Assistant Jade Brawley