Shetland Pride 2022: Plans announced to host first ever Pride festival in Shetland

Shetland is to host its first Pride festival in June 2022, organisers have announced.

Despite a number of LGBT groups existing on the isles for a few years, Shetland has never had a dedicated Pride event.

Kerrie Meyer, founder of Shetland Pride, said the event was opportunity to do something different for the isles.

She said: “For two years we had a float at the Shetland carnival. But we've never had a proper Shetland Pride.”

A committee is being established to help with the running of the event, and Shetland Pride plans to register as a charity before next summer.

The event has been welcomed by Shetland Islands Council.

“Shetland's an open, inclusive, and tolerant society. This will be quite a spectacle next summer if it goes ahead as planned," said council convener Malcolm Bell.

Shetland will host its first Pride festival in 2022.

“We've flown the rainbow flag for a number of years now - we very much support inclusivity and diversity.”

The number of Pride events across Scotland has grown since the first major event held in Edinburgh in June 1995.

The global starting point for pride began with the Stonewall Uprising in New York City.

On June 28, 1969, police arrived at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in bohemian Greenwich Village.

Back then, homosexuality was still a crime. Men could be arrested for wearing drag and women could also be punished if they were found to not be wearing enough traditionally feminine clothing.

The 200 patrons in the Stonewall Inn resisted arrest and rioted, sending the message that the LGBT+ community was sick and tired of being persecuted by the police.

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