Laura, 20

What I like about the Glasgow scene is meeting new people, you can be in your own crowd, around people same as you, not being targeted just because of a certain sexual orientation.

On a Wednesday night, it's got to be pound-a-drink in Polo, and Bennets is good to go. And Fhq, most nights it's an all female bar, lot easier to mingle with a lot of people, and chat them up!

I think Pride's still important probably because it's raising awareness still for LGBT issues. I volunteer for an LGBT group and it's about getting the awareness out and targeting people, not just family but friends of lgbt young folk and elderly as well.



Jackie, 50 and Kath, 45

J: It's a very friendly scene. It's getting bigger every year. We like Delmonicas and Merchant Pride.

K: I've only really been in the Glasgow scene, two or three years, and in that time I've never felt threatened or uncomfortable in any way, it's a really friendly scene. The Polo Lounge as well, on a Saturday night.

J: Pride gives people a chance to express themselves, let the rest of Glasgow see it's not something to be frightened of, not to be hidden away somewhere.

K: I probably agree with you, it just lets people be themselves.




Ruth, 32, Olivia, 28, Kate, 34: Scragfight

R: Us ourselves we prefer off-scene events, like Lock Up Your Daughters, it's the best night going on in Glasgow. It's just a group of individuals getting together, lots of independent djs including Kate, fantastic nights, usually themed, not technically on gay scene, off-scene, independent.

K: We go there a lot. They're having a Pride event, called Hyper Pride, Saturday after the march, it's going to be huge. They also do a zine, girls who do Lock Up are well worth a look, you guys should review it in DIVA, I think!

O: Lock Up is quite good, we also put on ourselves some alternative music nights. My days on the scene seem to have ended, there's not a problem with the scene as such, its more that possibly you could play different music after 10 years.

R: Lock Up Your Daughters at the Flying Duck.

K: Go there.

R: Pride is an important event because it shows how much we've achieved over the past 20 years of doing Pride. All the advances that we've made through marching and making ourselves be heard. And it's still important, although there aren't that many changes need to make in this country any more, it's still important to celebrate the changes that we have made, and to keep pushing the boundaries of society and become more and more accepted.

K: Can we just go, "What she said"?


Alice, 21

I think now, it's so much more widely accepted. You can say to straight people, we're going here, it's ok now. It's seen as fun. Fhq, best cocktails I think I've ever had, a French Fancy, they shake them well. Woo woo's quite good. Muff Love. Staff are so friendly, we love the staff! It's fun. You have to go. We tried to go there with my dad last Friday, they marched my friend out saying "You're barred', and my dad was like, "She's ginger, you can't bar a ginger!" Scene's good as well, we like Scene, a wee meal and what not, just wait until the Fhq opens up, quite good you see.

If no-one had the Pride, it would be frowned upon, so people doing things like this, makes it more acceptable again, people get to know about it, accept it, see it's a normal thing, so it's good for basically people just realising it's ok, it is ok.



Lauren, 23 (Electric Lady Garden)

The scene's good, it's not massively varied, there's some really cool alternative nights, fortnightly, or monthly, like Lock Up Your Daughters. Lock Up Your Daughters are absolutely brilliant. A really good night, electro, alternative crowd.

People are like, "We've got loads of equality, everything's fine now". But I do a bit of work in primary schools, and they're using the word gay, as in "that's so gay', as a derogatory term. We've not moved on as far as we think we have, and I think events like Pride are really important to go to, to say, well actually we're still here, and we're not going away and we're just people so kinda get over it, let's just all get along. Let's all be friends. But I think it's so important because we're not where we think we are.


Jackie, 38

I think Glasgow's got a good scene, something to cater for all ages. My partner and I don’t really go out on the scene so much now, we've got a girl now, we're mumsies, so it's a rare event for us to get out tonight having not been out on scene for years. I still enjoy good night out now and again, and would go to Polo for a good night, or Dels.

Pride is an important event, because we're not quite there yet with full acceptance into the general population. I've been out now for at least 20 years, and things have changed dramatically, but there's still lots of young people struggling to come to terms with who they are, how they're going to deal with it, and for that reason alone night like tonight makes you feel really comfortable.

I'd like to see more kids stuff going on, 'cause it’s really all the rage now, loads of us and our friends have kids. There's not enough kids stuff for Pride, what would be really good would be field festival kind of thing, go along as a family, or a couple or a couple with children as we are, express yourselves despite the fact that we're the minority in our crowd, our community, not many of us have kids, it makes us different again, a little exclusion there again.


Diane Torr

I think Pride's a great way that people get together, if we didn't have a Pride event everyone would just sit in their houses and read The Guardian. I don't know any lesbian events in Glasgow, thank god there's Pride, it's something. The one event in the year we might get laid!

I first came here from New York and compared to the scene here, it's like night and day. What scene in Glasgow? The Polo Lounge I go to... There's a horrible place next to Revolver, upstairs, don't know what it's called, smells like a toilet, not somewhere you'd want to spend the evening. I'd rather go into a bookshop, I think. I like to dance, I go to the Polo Lounge to dance. But generally I don't know any lesbian scenes here. I guess Glasgow Womens' library, is that a scene? When I first came here, I got my daughter a job from college, she got the college to pay for her to go and work at the Glasgow Womens' Library, so that was kind of cool y'know. So the GWL does good stuff, but it's not supplying a lesbian culture. It's not its remit to supply a culture.


Kristina, 19

I'd say the best place to go on a night out, as in dancing and stuff, would be Polo. The best place to go to a pub is Scene on a Tuesday and a Thursday, with Vanity Von Glow, 'cause they do a quiz night where you can win up to I think it's £100 on a Thursday. On a Tuesday, they do Don't Eff Up The Lyrics, win up to £500 and it's hilarious stuff. Tiger Tiger have got a new night on a Thursday.

This will be my second Pride, first time in Glasgow. It's an amazing feeling being able to walk down the street in the march, with the drums, everybody going wild, having a party. I think we need it cause there's still a lot of challenging homophobia and stuff, and basically it's a chance to celebrate and be proud of being gay. And it should be amazing.

Blair, 19

Play on a Wednesday night, they have foam parties. O Couture does a gay night every month, which is really good, was opening night not recently, that was really good.

I've never been to a Pride before, so this will be the first one I'm going to, but I've heard really good things about it, it's opening the eyes to people who don’t know what it's all about, so it's good.

I'll be looking forward to just see everybody being proud of who they are, enjoying themselves, not being afraid to walk down the street.


Interviews: Eleanor Capaldi
Photos: Sarah Lloyd
With thanks to Steph and Allison of Pride Glasgow