Pride in a year of challenges

As I write this, we’re a few days away from Glasgow’s Pride on 18th July, and 2025-26 has certainly brought challenges for the LGBTQ+ community. Now more than ever is when we need to stand up and be counted. A time to say “enough!”

In the last year, the attacks on the trans community have deepened, bankrolled by billionaires and foreign right-wingers. The, at best flawed, EHRC guidance is part of a huge rollback in the rights of trans people in the UK.

That’s due to start being enforced from 5 August and presents trans people, as I saw one person describing it, “being legislated out of existence.” Related to this we’re seeing a once popular children’s author turned professional bigot encouraging right-wing organisations to sue Amnesty International. What a hill to die on and so incredibly disappointing.

Nastiness seems to be in the ascendent, or at least seems unafraid to be seen and is largely unchallenged by the media.

I remember when I came out to my mum many years ago I told her not to worry as things are a lot different than they were before that point. Since then we’ve certainly went on to have equal marriage, but, and I wonder if covid was the turning point, the UK has started to go backwards. Where once we had been proudly one of the safest countries to be LGBTQ+ we’ve been spiralling lower and lower down the rankings.

The LGBTQ+ community is part of everyone’s community whether you know that right now or not. Your friends, your work colleagues and members of your family.

If you’re an ally, it means being an ally to the whole community. It means being willing to stand up in opposition to hate every single time. Being ‘gender critical’ really is as inexcusable and unjustifiable a position as people being against ‘mixing races’ back in the ’50s and ‘60s. Time will not be kind to transphobes.

The next few months especially are going to be difficult, and looking after our mental health is going to be more important than ever.  Let’s look out for each other. Check in on friends, and make time for things that will support your own mental health. Let yourself take up space in the world - you deserve to.

Remember the good moments and keep them close. Remember how thousands of people turned up to shame and counter-protest the handful of fascists who were even too feart to show their faces unmasked? That’s the real Glasgow.

Pride is about protest. Standing up and standing by others. We’ve seen it before and we turned it around. I’ll be there on Saturday. If you’re in Glasgow, I hope you’ll considering turning up and showing your support!

If you’re having a problem with your mental health and would like to discuss it with me, you can get in touch with me via the submission form on the website or drop me a message directly at mckellarCBT@gmail.com

If you’re able to, please consider donating to the following excellent organisations:

• Scottish Trans: https://www.scottishtrans.org

• TransActual:   https://transactual.org.uk/who-are-transactual-uk/

• Mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk

• LGBT Youth Scotland: https://lgbtyouth.org.uk

• LGBT Health & Wellbeing: http://www.lgbthealth.org.uk/donate/