I was born in the 90s, so Pride wasn’t even a thing I knew about growing up.
I was brought up in an Army environment with my dad, so none of this stuff was ever talked about.
And as I grew up in the era of and just after Section 28, nothing was ever discussed in my education.
It was only when I moved to Dundee for university in 2012 that I started to understand myself more.
Even then, there was no Dundee Pride, you had to go to Glasgow or Edinburgh or down south. So it’s a huge deal that kids in Dundee now have this on their doorsteps.
My first Pride wasn’t Dundee, it was Manchester.
Not having Pride growing up, you don’t know what to expect. But that opened eyes to what we could do, what we could be – and who I was, a bit more. I felt more like myself.
I think being around other people who have had similar journeys makes you feel at home.
‘Wonderful aura’ of my first Dundee Pride
I remember attending my first Dundee Pride at Slessor Gardens – the sun was shining, and there was this wonderful aura, I don’t even know how to describe it.
To be LGBT and be in a safe, inclusive space where the only thing you need to be is yourself, it’s indescribable.
Even to be able to walk around and hold your partner’s hand, which I would still struggle with, you could do.
You never felt ostracised or condemned by other people, or stared at. Or if you were being stared at, it was for a positive thing. And that’s not something we get to feel very often.
There’s something about Dundee as a city, and how we celebrate, that always feels homey, family-orientated and friendly.
My husband and I go every year and this year we’re going again – why would be not, when it’s on our doorstep?
It’s just this euphoria of colour and fun and being proud of being alive and human, with the retrospect that we would never have been able to do Dundee Pride without the work of people in the past. I often think about that.
‘Other people around the world don’t have the rights we have’
People think Scotland is doing amazing with LGBT rights and we are, but there’s still a lot of things we need to be doing.
Pride, for me, isn’t just a celebration, which a lot of people see it as. They think ‘why do we still need to be marching?’ But to be able to march is so powerful.
Because it might not be because of the way things are in Dundee – it’s about how things are worldwide.
We need to understand that our little event that we see this wonderful community of Dundee is actually standing for LGBT rights globally.
That’s how I would like to see it, because other people around the world don’t have the human right or the right to equal marriage that we have.
Dundee Pride takes place on June 15-16 2024. Tickets are free and can be booked via the organisation’s website.
Conversation