Jessica Taylor, Events Manager for Highland Pride, discusses the month of events and exhibitions planned for LGBT History Month.

After the buzz of our pride event had quietened down last summer and our rainbow flags and bunting had been packed away our thoughts turned to what we could do to add to the year-round social calendar for our LGBT+ community.

So, we took some time out to ask via surveys and regular meetups and it became clear that what people really wanted was a wider variety of events in the shape of workshops, film nights, book readings and more. From this an idea began to take shape…a Winter Pride festival in February 2020.

Pride (15) free screening Thu 13 Feb 6.15pm

Why Winter Pride? Well, one of our charity aims is to address the problems of social and geographical isolation faced by LGBT+ people living in the Highlands. Winter here can last a very long time and this ensures that we’re breaking up that long slog to spring with a whole heap of free events that our community can attend.

LGBT History Month is held throughout February - an opportunity to celebrate LGBT+ culture, reflect on our history and look to the future of activism. We decided to mark it in true style this year, continuing to make the Highlands an inclusive and welcoming place to live.

Beautiful Thing (15) free screening Thu 06 Feb 7.15pm

One of our biggest supporters of Winter Pride has been Eden Court Highlands where we’ve managed to squeeze in two exhibitions, an UnDividingLines Magazine writer’s showcase, workshops for our trans and non-binary community, the LGBTI+ Elders Social Dance, a special screening from the Scottish Queer International Film Festival and two FREE film screenings of Beautiful Thing and Pride.

My plea now to our LGBT+ community and allies…please take time to check out all our events and exhibitions (21 in total!) on our website or via our Facebook page, and come along to those that you can. We need you to show your support and make it a success!

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