Credit: Trans Pride Scotland
Reporter
The third annual event would have been the first of its kind in Glasgow.
Glasgow’s first transgender pride event has been cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns.
The third annual event, which was to be held in Paisley at the University of the West of Scotland student’s union on 28 March, would have been the first of its kind to be held in Glasgow. However, in response to the government’s calls for all public events to be cancelled, the event organisers announced that the event will be postponed. Trans Pride Scotland is Scotland’s first annual pride festival specifically for transgender people. The first event took place in 2018 in Edinburgh, followed by Dundee in 2019.
Aberdeen was originally expected to be the host of this year’s event, but after finding that Aberdeen city council would charge them £3,000 to march in the streets, a request that left the event organisers “shocked and disappointed”, they decided to find a more affordable location.
This year, a march around Paisley followed by an indoor event at the UWS student’s union was planned, which was supposed to include various workshops, stalls, socialising and entertainment with free entry.
Trans Pride Scotland is an annual protest in support of transgender and non-binary people, and to raise awareness for the issues they face. It is intended to be “a non-commercial, free, inclusive, accessible Trans Pride specifically designed by and for trans people in Scotland,” according to Trans Pride Scotland’s official website.
The event would have preceded the International Transgender Day of Visibility on 28 March. Transgender people have had legal recognition to change their gender since 2004 in Scotland, however, members of the trans community still face stigma and discrimination, and experience higher rates of youth homelessness and familial rejection than the general population.
The Glasgow Guardian reached out to the event organisers to query if a new date was in the works, but they did not respond at time of publication.
