Why we still need pride

Our Diversity and Inclusion Officer Keith Paterson shares his personal story and reflects on why Pride events are just as important today as they were when they began.
June is the traditional month for LGBTQ+ Pride Events to take place across the country. This year, Age Scotland participated in Lochaber, Arran, Highland, Grampian, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Earlier in the year we were represented at Trans Pride in Kirkcaldy, and you can still come to say hello to us at Oban Pride on 30 August and Stirling Pride on 20 September.
Attending so many events made me think of my first Pride march, which was in Edinburgh back in 1995, making this year’s event the 30th Anniversary.
That march in Edinburgh was the first Pride march to take place in Scotland. When I came to Edinburgh at the end of the 1970’s it was ostensibly to go to university, but really, I was a small-town boy seeking “like-minded people”. I found them, but for another two years or so homosexuality was still illegal. The law did not change in Scotland till 1981.
Once in Edinburgh, I soon discovered the gay scene, which was still slightly hidden away, along with political organisations campaigning for LGBT+ rights. I volunteered on what was then Gay Switchboard, which was the first such service in the UK. They took their first calls the day before the London version.
It was then that I became more aware of our history, and met people on the switchboard, many of them older, who had been imprisoned, ostracised by their families, thrown out of the military, sacked from their jobs, and beaten up and banned from attending their long-term partner’s funerals.
So, when people ask why we “need” Pride, I tell them some of those stories. I also say that for many people (and for some it hasn’t changed), they lived much of their lives hiding their identities.
To come out and be visible wasn’t easy. So, to celebrate openly and publicly is important, to remember all those folk who couldn’t. That is why we need Pride.
Among people of my age in the UK, I think this is the first time in our lives we have felt there is a real threat to our hard-won rights being rowed back or removed. There were some blips along the way, like Section 28, but generally things have moved towards equal rights.
However, we look across the Atlantic with trepidation and fear. We see how our trans community is being treated. In 2016 Scotland was recognised as “the best country in Europe for LGBTI legal rights”. This year, the UK fell back to 22nd place (out of 49).
And that is why we still need Pride marches and events.
Age Scotland's advice and information guide on the Rights of LGBTQ+ older people in Scotland can be downloaded or ordered here.
Call Age Scotland's free helpline on 0800 12 44 222 for general information, advice and support, including access to Age Scotland's Friendship call service and Community Connecting.