Glasgow Pride ‘breaks attendance records’
More than 6,000 people were believed to have attended Glasgow’s Pride event at the weekend, breaking previous attendance records, the organisers said.
X Factor winner Joe McElderry and former X Factor hopeful Lloyd Daniels joined the Cheeky Girls in stage performances after the parade, the Glaswegian reports.
Pride Glasgow director Ross Stevenson said he was “glad” the event had gone ahead without any “major problems”.
He subsequently announced the event would be his last after 5 years as director, saying: “Pride Glasgow will always hold a special part in my heart.
“It’s been such an amazing experience and today having got emotional watching the parade I knew I was making the right decision.”
“It can only get bigger and better and I look forward to seeing it succeed.”
James Dornan, SNP MSP, said at the parade that “no one” should be subjected to homophobia, “and that is why we are here calling for equality”.
He added: “I know Scotland is up for it, I know you are and so am I.”
Drew Smith, Labour MSP, said: “Pride is not just a party, it’s a demonstration. We’ve made progress through the years, and the next has to be equal marriage.”
At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Scottish government did not announce its eagerly-awaited decision on whether to bring forward legislation for marriage equality between gay and straight couples.
While it ruled out a referendum as called for by the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, it said it would defer the decision on legislation to a sub-committee.
The government said it was “right that Cabinet takes the time to get both the principle and the detail of the decision right” and that it had “now asked a Cabinet sub-committee, led by the Deputy First Minister, to further examine some particular issues of detail before a final decision is reached.”
It pledged a “clear decision on the way forward” by the end of the month.
