Pride should be free. Pride should be a protest. Pride should be accessible to all.
Instead, Pride events have become over-commercialised and de-radicalised, and people are charged money if they want to participate. Pride belongs to LGBTQIA+ people and we want it back.
We have grown tired of mainstream Pride’s lack of inclusiveness for transgender, intersex and asexual people and other marginalized groups that make part of our LGBTQIA+ communities, including disabled people/people with disabilities and people of colour.
Free Pride seeks to address three main issues:
* Anti-commercialisation – Pride is for people not for corporations to make themselves look LGBT friendly and make profit off us, however, our frustration is aimed at the commercial forces at work in Pride and not the LGBTQIA+ who participate in what has become.
* Inclusivity – We want to create a safer space that prioritises the voices of the most marginalised and is accessible to all.
* Pride is a protest – From the harassment and violence levelled at the Trans community to the treatment of LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers, we are continually reminded that society isn’t for us and that needs to change. Pride should be a platform to demand and make that change, not just an opportunity to be sold things and promoted to.
We don’t have money or commercial sponsors, but when we work together we are powerful. We are a group of LGBTQIA+ people with a vision to build something different and we encourage people and groups to join us in organising alternative grass-roots events.
We want to “Free Pride”.
freeprideglasgow.wordpress.com 
Following the debacle over cis gendered drag queens, I rather suspect Free Pride has managed quite robustly to alienate any diverseity in support they may have garnered previously. Far from encouraging support this can only have repelled supporters.
It was reported that one of the communications in relation to this now reversed, though widely and internationally viewed policy failure was, something to the effect of, “if you’re cis don’t contact us about this”. Wow! Really?! Who’s idea was that?
What I would like to know is, is Free Pride a trans separatist organisation ?
It certainly seems that way When such aggressive, exclusionary, and discriminating – not to mention very public – policy statements are published.
You know that the whole you can watch but you can’t play is sidelining people just because you don’t like them and that is arbitrary discrimination, right?
I really only want an answer to that question out of a desire for clarity. It really doesn’t matter to me either way, as I make a very clear policy of not supporting organisations or events that directly or indirectly seek to exclude, embarrass, be conflictual towards, be aggressive towards, discriminate against, condescend to or otherwise offed me. Particularly on the basis of arbitrary individual differences.
I understand that this policy failure on the part of Free Pride has now been reversed. At least a statement has been (if under some duress) released to that effect. I do however question the statement’s authenticity in spirit, given its tone.
I do actually find the tone of the apparent apology just a tad passive-aggressive and forced. I’m having real difficulty accepting an apology that somehow just doesn’t ring true.
This is sad. It is sad because there are a lot of marginalised people in the wider queer community. Some, one might even venture most, of those people do not support further divisiveness nor are they likely to support the apparent faux and pouting superiority which does ooze from the supposed apology on this matter. It’s sad because what grassroots support you may have benefitted from is unlikely to now materialise. That’s what happens when you put one group above others.
Reactionary discrimination is still discrimination.
I do not support discrimination.
At the end of the day the ethos and culture of Free Pride as an organisation, either welcomes all or discriminates. That needs to be clarified.
It also needs to be clarified in what specific ways certain of our queer community need protected and kept safe from others by mere virtue of expression of individual difference… That rationale sounds awfully like the argument used to discriminate in employment between groups. You know the, ‘we have to protect children from those freaks’, argument …
I’ll give you one thing. PRIDE events the world over have become expensive, often so much so that only those with a large amount of disposable income can enjoy the events. Unfortunately, following recent and current economic troubles, job losses and lack of social and practical supports not many have the cash to splash. A less commercially focussed, community orientated celebration is therefore to be applauded. Just not at the expense of members of our own community on the basis of the self same arbitrary individual differences we ALL have to face down in one respect or another, every single day.
FreePride, I am disappointed. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one either.
Yes, you did make a mistake, huge!
Your retraction and apology was not much better.
I wish you all well in your endeavours. However, I doubt I will be supporting your organisation or its events in the future.
ML36JP
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Well done – I was not pleased at the original decision and sent twitter to claim our space – of course it was not abusive just critical of the decision
Well done REALLY WELL DONE in your apology and retraction and thank you
I hope to bring me my alternate personality Monica and one or two of the queer dressing up parts of myself to Free Pride now – and we will all feel welcome I thank your from the bottom of my Gender Discombobulated Soul
mwah mwah mwah Dahlinks
Ro (and Monica)
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