Why Pride, and why Millport?

Why Millport is easy - the organising committee live in Millport, Largs, or have strong connections to the area.

We want to celebrate Pride in our community, we want to celebrate the fabulous, inclusive island that is Cumbrae and we want to bring friends and visitors along to experience it too.

Our neighbouring islands of Arran and Bute have successful Pride events which contribute to the social life and economies of those islands - Millport Pride was born after a visit to Arran Pride in May!

 

Why Pride?

We know not everyone - not even all LGBTQ+ people - wants to march in a parade or “don’t see the point” of Pride. But look around you at what is happening in the world - the rise of the far right, the ‘manosphere’, the rolling back of rights (especially trans rights) which had been won in the last four decades - not just in Scotland but in the US and beyond.

Pride started in the wake of the Stonewall riots as a protest - yes it’s fun, yes it’s a celebration, but it’s also a protest - a protest that says we are never going back. The current global context is especially hard for young people. Young people in Millport and North Ayrshire are more likely to be living in poverty, are less able to access the major city Prides and are often isolated from peers.

Above all else, Pride says “you are OK, you are welcome here, you belong here”. Pride is for everyone - straight, gay, cis, trans or anywhere else in the rainbow.

Millport Pride will have a family area and youth zone run by NAC youth workers - bring your family, bring your friends and bring your self! * a wee note on language * LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. The “plus” is used to show that these are not the only terms people use to describe their sexuality and gender identity - it is a spectrum, language changes over time and not everyone wants a label! Cis (or “cisgender”) is used to describe those whose lived experience of gender matches their sex assigned at birth. So if it says male on your birth certificate, you feel like a boy/man, people describe you as he/him then you are cisgender. Trans (or “transgender”) is an umbrella term for those whose lived experience doesn’t match their sex assigned at birth - they could identify as the opposite sex, feel neither male nor female or have another gender identity.