Blind at Pride

At Visibility Scotland we’re passionate about empowering everyone we work with, raising awareness and understanding of visual impairment, challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers that exist for blind and partially sighted people.

One of the ways we’re doing this is by sharing blog posts written by the people we support. We love hearing about peoples interests, passions, pastimes and even pet hates! We want to champion all the amazing things that people do, and challenge the things that could be better, so that we can inspire and empower other people to try new things, share their views and hear about other peoples’ lived experiences.

We are delighted that some of our 18 to 25’s group have written blog posts for us and we will be sharing these over the coming weeks. First up, Erin has written a post for us about her experience attending this year’s Pride. Read on to find out more.

Blind at Pride

As an LGBTQIA+ member of the visibility community I decided to march in the 2022 Pride event that took place at Greendyke street (Glasgow green) on 25 June. The march began at Greendyke street and made it’s way through the City Centre ending on Broomielaw near the new Barclays campus.

I was lucky enough to be in the centre of the procession that included businesses of Glasgow, the fire department and some celebrities such as Jane McCarry who is well known for playing Isa Drennan in the popular TV show ‘Still Game’.

We walked on the road as they were closed off for the procession and everyone gave me more than plenty of space for me to be able to use my ball cane. The thing that I love about Pride is that it shows love has no gender, no race, no nationality no religion and it certainly doesn’t care if you’re disabled or not!

So next Pride 2023, if you want to support but you’re afraid you might get in the way, take those thoughts out of your head! Whether you’re one year old or 99 years old, as long as you can make it from point A to point B and you can scream ‘I love you!’ to protesters then you belong in Pride! Whether you’re an ally or a part of the LGBTQIA+ community don’t let your lack of sight discourage what you believe in.

Caption: Me, ready for Pride in a black t-shirt with a rainbow mandala pattern. I have the bisexual pride flag on my cheeks which starts with pink then purple then ends with blue, and the same colours on my eyelids.

A big thank you to Erin for writing about her experience at Pride for us!

If you’re 18 to 25 and would like to write a blog post for us, or if you’d like to learn more about our support services for children and young people, please get in touch with our team by email:

Families@nullvisibilityscotland.org.uk

Or call:

0141 332 4632