Twenty-three Prides across Scotland call on politicians to stop using LGBTQ+ community as “political pawns”

Twenty-three Prides across Scotland – including Shetland, Orkney, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling – have issued a joint statement calling on politicians to stop using the LGBTQ+ community as “political pawns”.

In the statement, published to coincide with International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, organisers of the Pride events say they are “deeply alarmed” about the “escalation in the demonisation” of people in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly those in the trans community.

The Pride groups say: “The recent Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent guidance by the Equality and Human Rights Commission are a serious threat to the rights of trans people.

“Additionally, continued delays to the ban on conversion therapy, the banning of puberty blockers, and the obstruction of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill indicate the influence of the anti-LGBTQIA+ lobby in both the UK and Scottish Governments.”

They added that supportive voices were being “continually sidelined, ignored and vilified.”

“As LGBTQIA+ Pride organisers across Scotland, we play a part in bringing our communities together, amplifying their voices and creating safe spaces where people can just be themselves,” they said.

“Current levels of anxiety, fear and anger within the LGBTQIA+ community across Scotland must not be understated.

“The demonisation of our communities must end. We need to be brought in from the cold, listened to and action taken.”