We managed to catch up with Unite Glasgow earlier, who’s LGBT+ committee announced they had pulled out from the march, tomorrow as a result of charges and commercialisation. For the record, Unite wasn’t registered for the march (neither was Unison), so we didn’t expect them tomorrow in the march and to confirm, we don’t charge unions to march. Unite’s statement comes from a bad experience last year, we have since found out.
Our community is its harshest critic (don’t we know it!) and it’s right to be held to account, but we feel that we need to address recent allegations being made of commercialisation and making profit for the charity.
Different Prides in Glasgow
There are three Prides in Glasgow and it’s not uncommon to have more than one in a big city.
We all have our place and we all operate differently. Pride Glasgow historically relied on sponsorship to help grow the event but this year is different, with a low-key and low-risk approach.
Our thoughts on commercial income
Pride Glasgow is a charity and it’s run by a Board of volunteers. There are contracted professionals in place for delivering specialist areas of work such as event management.
Sponsorship money helps develop activity for the community. To think it’s for profit shows people don’t know much about Pride Glasgow and its initiatives and who would think that a charity doesn’t need an income?
One of our sponsors, for example, has helped us enormously as their sponsorship straddles Pride Life, which is a year-round Pride Glasgow initiative. A paid member of staff helps to train 200+ Pride Glasgow volunteers which in turn helps them develop new skills. It is also has a mental health and wellness strand, where activities are organised to assist volunteers with everyday struggles. None of that is free to organise but it’s free to our volunteers.
Wider society still needs educated about LGBT+
We also think of sponsorship as an opportunity – an opportunity to help educate organisations and businesses about the Pride movement and connect them with the very community they are trying to engage, for jobs and more, face-to-face. We know diversity is high on everyone’s agenda and we’re trying to help those organisations make their contributions meaningful and not just lip service to what they shouldbe doing to tick a box.
If we didn’t have this kind of approach, we’d simply be politically shouting and that doesn’t get your far. We don’t want to get to the stage when organisations are too scared to talk about LGBT in case they are criticised for not meaning it sincerely. We all have to make an effort.
Pride supporting the community
In addition, our Pride Forum, which is made up of 27 volunteer members, has a specific remit of representing the community and advising the board. They consistently provide us with feedback, tell the board, what is happening and advise on suggested approaches.
We’ve said it many times in the last few months and we’ll say it again. The march isour main focus and the statement. The march is what excites people and brings everyone together. It’s what gives some people the opportunity to support the cause – many young people who are only coming out and are perhaps taking a first step into the wider LGBT+ community. The fringe events are mostly run by venues across Glasgow, for the community, by the community.
We’re a charity which never set out to be a year-round event-based charity. Our governance review and restructure earlier this year has allowed us to consider future strategies for the organisation and it has been agreed this will progress once Pride Glasgow has taken place this year.
I sit on the LGBTQI Partnership, which meets every quarter, and chaired by a Police Constable and Local Authority Liaison Officer, and we discuss everything around issues our community faces. I feed this back into Pride Life and Pride Life supports a number of people who have actually been on the receiving end of hate crime. It’s our ambition to develop Pride Life as part of the next evolution of Pride Glasgow.
Can we stop the negativity, please?
We’re an open organisation and welcome constructive feedback and adult conversations. We cannot get involved in arguing, fighting, or worse, going against our own community. Pride Glasgow does some great work which isn’t publicly seen and maybe that’s what we need to be talking more about, so accusations stop?
Let’s all remember what Pride is, stands for and remember we all have passion and fire in our bellies – we just need to use it in the right way. To help each other, not bring each other down.
Happy Pride this weekend as we prepare to march tomorrow. Join us. You’re all welcome and we’d be glad to share the march with you.
Christopher Tait (nee Lang), chair of Pride Glasgow