Pride event celebrates 'best year yet'

A Pride organiser is celebrating the event's "best year yet", despite rising online negativity and increasing difficulty in securing sponsors.

Jen Deere has helped organise the last three Pride celebrations in Oswestry, Shropshire, including Saturday's march followed by a day of activities and performances in Cae Glas Park.

Hundreds attended and the event passed peacefully, even though Deere said they had seen more of a negative response on social media in the build-up.

"There is that support in the community and it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done," they added. "It was just a really lovely atmosphere."

"Everyone was really enjoying themselves and we're refining it year on year, so it does feel like our best year yet."

The grassroots event is staged through donations and business sponsorship, and aims to highlight local talent.

"We're quite strict about not shipping people in from big cities where there's a lot of opportunities for queer performers like drag performers," Deere said.

"We really like to highlight the talent that's already in the area. We've seen it lead to a lot of opportunities for the performers.

Deere said it was a priority to keep the event open to all.

"I think it's really important to see queer adults in just a normal context where it's not something scandalous.

"This is a family-friendly event and all of the people that are here are here for the community."

Deere said they had seen "more of a response" to their social media posts than in previous years.

"People started coming to the Oswestry Pride Facebook page to leave comments on what they think about our posts, which is really disheartening."

A police and security presence on Saturday felt reassuring, they said. "Once again we existed peacefully.

"It is really confusing sometimes seeing all that hate that exists online and in small pockets, and it does make you quite fearful."

The organiser said it had been harder to secure sponsorship this year, and that fewer local businesses had put up Pride displays in their windows.

"There's a concern that businesses that show their support for Pride are going to be targeted or penalised by people in different positions and that they might lose business," they suggested.

"Or it may be that people within those communities don't want to show support for it because they believe that they might be targeted."

Deere added they were thankful to solicitor Lanyon Bowdler, which had sponsored the event for the past three years.

"Even if there was no other funding we could put on a Pride event with what they give us, and that's so vital."

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