Sir Ian's the Pride of Perth
Acting legend Sir Ian McKellen was in Perth over the weekend to lead the city’s first ever Pride parade.
People travelled from all over Scotland to take part in the Perthshire Pride parade on Saturday, which celebrated the region’s LGBT community.
The‘ Lord of the Rings’ star was joined by Miss Transgender UK Aria Welsh, drag queen Scarlet Skylar Rae and some of Perthshire Pride’s organisers at the front, and made a speech on stage outside the concert hall.
Speaking to the PA, Sir Ian said: “I have been in Prides all over the world but never had such a beautiful walk as coming along the Tay.”
People from all over Scotland celebrated Perth’s first Pride parade – led by acting legend Sir Ian McKellen. The sun shone for the thousands of people who took part in the parade, which left from the South Inch and travelled along Tay Street to Horsecross Plaza to celebrate the region’s LGBT community. Sir Ian McKellen (80) who co-founded Stonewall UK in 1989 and is an LGBT activist, made the surprise announcement he was going to take part during a stage show on Friday. He said the parade through the streets of Perth was the most “beautiful” Pride parade he had ever been on. Speaking to the PA, the Lord of the Rings star said: “I have been in Prides all over the world, but never had such a beautiful walk as coming along the Tay. We have family, friends, dogs and children here. It is lovely.
“It is hugely important to have Pride and this was a great day to come out and tell everyone you are gay.”
This comes as Sir Ian has set up a new campaign to support older LGBT people in the UK.
He continued: “People of my generation are not quite as bold at being themselves as younger people are, particularly if they are in care or something like that.
“People need to be more aware of this. Some older gay people can get very lonely because they can’t go out to the clubs and bars.
“But I hope some of them might be here today.”
After the parade, Sir Ian took to the
A riot of rainbows as the first LGBT pride march is hailed a success
stage in Horsecross Plaza and thanked everyone in attendance for their support for Perthshire Pride. He said: “Congratulations to everyone who has organised this event and to everyone who is here. “This is a day to be happy, to be yourself and be proud to be yourself. “This is a special day. If you think maybe its time to tell mum and dad, today is the time. “Thank you for your welcome and congratulations on finally joining the human race and having your own Pride in Perth.” This came the day before he performed in his stage show to a
sold out audience at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on Sunday night.
During his performance in Pitlochry, he even had a copy of Friday’s Perthshire Advertiser – with our special Pride masthead – on stage as one of his props.
At Pride, Sir Ian was joined at the front of the parade with Miss Transgender UK Aria Welsh, Perth’s very own drag queen Scarlet Skylar Rae, Depute Provost Willie Wilson and some of the main organisers of the event.
Aria said: “It has been fantastic, absolutely amazing – and with Sir Ian coming everyone has come out in force.
“Today is the day to celebrate life and be proud and it really brings home just how similar we all are even though we are different.
“I am astounded at the crowd. It is just a sea of people, and it was incredible to help lead the parade. Scarlet and I went to lead Stornoway Pride but it was nothing on this magnitude and we didn’t have Sir Ian beside us.
“He is royalty within the LGBT community.”
Scarlet Skylar Rae added: “It is brilliant and such a good turnout.
“It is incredible to have Sir Ian here, as he promoted the first Pride in Scotland in 1995.
“Our allies are also a strong part of the LGBT community.
“Without them we can be a community, but we are never going to be accepted, so it is lovely to have so many allies here today.”
Organisers told the PA around 7000 people turned out for the event.
Co-organiser Claire Mackenzie said it was humbling to see how many people turned out to celebrate Perthshire Pride.
She said: “I am absolutely ecstatic with the turnout. Everyone is so happy, I am over the moon. We have had so many heartwarming stories of people saying this has been their first ever Pride, which is really, really good.
“It is so humbling and shows the need for something like this in Perth.
“There was a gap for this community. Statistics show one in 10 people is gay, and that is a large part of the population.
“You need something for them otherwise they get lost in the cracks. We have so many allies here today supporting us, we have mums and dads coming down with their kids – it is really lovely to see.”