At the weekend Scotland in Union were delighted to attend the Pride Glasgow festival in Kelvingrove Park. The event was extremely busy and at one point the organisers had to stop letting people in due to overcrowding. Whilst this was inconvenient for those waiting to come in, it is testament to how much Pride has grown in recent years.
Hundreds signed up to our campaign and our rainbow Union Jack badges could be seen across the park. It was great to meet with many people to discuss and hear their views on Scotland in the UK. We were proud to be in attendance, and even more proud to stand with and support the LGBT+ movement here in Glasgow and across the UK.
Prior to the weekend's event, it was announced that SNP leader and First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, would be this year’s honorary grand marshal for Pride Glasgow. Many of the attendees we heard from expressed their annoyance that a divisive political figure was leading the march, and feared it would be hijacked by those of a nationalist persuasion, due to the head of the independence movement having a leading role. People we spoke with didn’t seem to want anyone in politics to be leading the event.
Regardless of who was leading the march, and despite the organisational issues, the event was a great success. We had a fantastic opportunity to reach out to more people, and to sign up new supporters who have had enough of the SNP’s obsession with independence.
The message we carried to the Pride Glasgow was simple; “Indyref2? No Thanks! Get back to the day job, Nicola.” Scotland needs the SNP to stop with their obsession with independence and get back to running our public services. No matter how clear this message was it seemed to have been lost on a local Nationalist MP who took offence to our leaflet. He was the only person at Pride who had a problem with it, which says a lot.
Just like last year, and this year, next year we will once again stand with the LGBT+ movement and ensure that everyone can hear our message of unity.
Join us today and help us spread the message that Scotland doesn’t need or want another unwanted and divisive referendum. See you all next year at Pride.
