Oban’s inaugural Pride Day revealed
Oban Pride 2019 will take place on Saturday May 18 with equality for all a main theme for a packed day of activities.
The much-anticipated date for the inaugural event was revealed at the Oban Pride launch party at the Lorne Bar on Friday night, which had enjoyed its own Pride makeover especially for the event.
Local drag performer Crystal, whose alter ego Phill Dexter was part of the launch team, hosted Dragoake on the night with Lorne Bar resident DJ Neil keeping everyone dancing.
Talking about the historic event taking place in May, Crystal said: ‘I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally be able to release the date for Oban Pride 2019.
‘We are currently working on
a programme full of entertainment that the whole family can enjoy for that day and are hoping to have a parade through the town as well as other events throughout the evening and the weekend.
‘If Friday night is anything to go by, the day itself will be a truly magnificent one. The Lorne had a fantastic atmosphere and all who attended
seemed to have an amazing evening.’
Having started after the Stonewall riots in 1969, Pride was originally a protest for the LGBTQ+ community in order to get equal rights.
‘We may have come a long way with equal rights in this country but there are other countries that don’t and we are showing the world that our
beautiful town of Oban stands with them in their fight for equality,’ added Crystal.
‘Pride is also a celebration of how far our rights have come in this country and fighting the stigma that LGBTQ+ people still face in their everyday lives, as well as making everybody feel welcome in all areas of our community.’
Gary Hamilton is also a member of the launch team and explained what events had been planned so far by Oban Pride. ‘February is LGBT History month so to mark the end of this we have a double feature at Oban Phoenix Cinema on Friday March 1 with a documentary called LGBT Britain followed by the fabulous musical Everybody’s talking about Jamie.
‘We have lots of events in the lead up to Oban Pride and all can be found on our Facebook page Oban Pride.’