Perth is preparing for its first ever Pride festival to celebrate the region’s LGBT community.
And about time too, particularly for a city striving to become Scotland’s party capital.
The carnival-style gathering will be one of 11 similar events across the country. Last year, there were only four.
Processions in Glasgow and Fife have already gone down a storm this summer, and next month will be the Fair City’s chance to show off its rainbow colours.
What has been heartening about the Perthshire Pride campaign is how it has been widely embraced.
The movement has won cross-party support from councillors and secured money from the Common Good Fund.
And even better, the church – historically opposed to “that kind of thing” – will play a central role in the event, with a stop at St Matthews in the centre of Perth.
Rainbow flags have also started appearing in the windows of city centre cafes and shops.
There’s a certain amount of pressure on the city, after the local council was highly praised by charity Pink Saltire for activities organised for LGBT month in February.
Each Scottish council was surveyed by the charity and marked on whether they flew the Pride flag, whether they ran activities in schools or youth clubs, the heritage or cultural events on offer, council staff awareness training, and the number of social media posts by the local authority.
Perth and Kinross Council was the only one to tick all five points.
There has been a seismic shift in attitudes to the country’s LGBT community over the decades, to the extant that critics now question why a Pride march is even necessary these days.
But in an age where some quarters are at war with progress and political correctness, it’s probably more relevant than ever.
What started as a demonstration against prejudice and hatred, marking the 1969 Stonewall riots, has evolved into a celebration of tolerance and diversity and it’s something Perth should be proud to be hosting.
