A Scottish charity is calling on members of the LGBTQ+ community to come forward and have their voices heard on what makes them proud to be a part of Pride.
The campaign comes during Pride month, which runs for the entirety of June, which sees marches and events take place across the country to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
The new campaign, Proud Because, launched by LGBT Youth Scotland, aims to gather unique stories and perspectives of what makes people proud as part of Pride celebrations.
Mhairi Crawford, Chief Executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, said: "After the inspiring stories we heard last year through the (Un)seen (Un)heard project, we're eager to see even more people get involved this year with #ProudBecause.
“It’s vital that we make sure that voices of young people are heard within the LGBTQ+ community as they after often greatly underrepresented.
"This project will aim to give members of the LGBTQ+ community the chance to come forward and share what Pride means to them, this is a brilliant chance for them to share their stories.
"We’ve got a full calendar of workshops we are due to run this Pride and I can’t wait to see everybody out in full force celebrating what it is that makes them unique, it’s always a fantastic experience speaking to young people at Pride, and it gives me real hope for the future.”
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Set to run in conjunction with the (Un)seen (Un)heard campaign, launched last summer, workshops will be held at five Pride events across the country.
Beyond physical events, LGBT Youth Scotland champions digital participation, offering an online platform where young people can contribute.
This digital space ensures accessibility and broadens the reach of the campaign, allowing for a diverse collection of experiences and stories to be shared and celebrated.
When asked what Pride means to them, one participant said: “It’s a combination of celebrating who we are, celebrating how far we’ve come and sending a message that we need to keep moving forward onwards and onwards as the years go by.”
Another added: “Pride events, do kind of connect me to the history of LGBTQ people as a community.
“I think pride is something that cements these very disparate groups of people who only really are connected by the fact that they’re discriminated against for various queering features of themselves, it’s kind of an event that brings people together as a unified whole that makes them go, “oh wow, we’re actually not just individual people. We are a group of people”.
“I think even if somebody is an objectively extremely weird person, pride is a way to say “Look, I’m here, and I’m a human being that is here, now, in front of you”.”
Launched in 2023, the (Un)seen (Un)heard project held 43 workshops, gathering almost 200 submissions from over 340 participants.
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