SUPPORTERS and organisers of a cancelled Pride event in Scotland have reported a tirade of “vile” abuse to the police.
They claim they were subject to social media harassment, threatening emails and anonymous phone calls in the lead up to the planned Mardi Gla festival, which was scheduled to take place in Glasgow on July 20.
Stand-up comedian Scott Agnew told The Sunday National he had gone to the police after receiving “veiled threats at possible violence and blackmail” as a result of his outspoken support for the new festival.
“These attacks came via Facebook, Grindr, via private email and even direct to my phone with anonymous calls and I was only speaking out – you can only begin to imagine what the organisers of a new event have had to endure,” he said.
“The level of abuse has been astounding and I’m aware of threats to reveal people’s health conditions as well as actually revealing spent convictions and people’s home addresses.
“The people involved should be ashamed of themselves. It’s been vile.”
READ MORE: Mardi Gla takes over Pride in Glasgow after last year’s ticket fiasco
Mardi Gla organiser Euan McLeod confirmed there had been threats against members of the community which had been passed on to the police.
It was announced last week that Mardi Gla would no longer go ahead, leaving the city without a major Pride festival this year – although marches will be held through the city win July and August, with bars and clubs providing entertainment.
McLeod said that despite months of work, it had proved too difficult to deliver a free festival without direct support from grants.
He said the confusion between Mardi Gla and an event announced by Pride Glasgow “had not helped”.
Nicola Sturgeon at Pride Glasgow in June 2018
Plans for Mardi Gla were announced by the LGBT Co-operative after the annual Pride Glasgow event collapsed in chaos last summer. Angry ticket holders were refused entry to the festival in Kelvingrove Park after it was oversold and the event ended up thousands of pounds in debt.
With a police investigation ongoing into allegations of financial irregularities surrounding the Pride Glasgow event and with the debt still outstanding, it was thought that Mardi Gla would be the only Pride festival in the city this summer.
Last month, however, Pride Glasgow announced they would hold an event in the Riverside Museum this August. But when they failed to pay their outstanding debt to Glasgow City Council permission for the use of the building was rescinded.
“For us it was catastrophic when they announced Riverside then cancelled two weeks later as it had a significant impact on our funding and resources and we could not recover,” said McLeod.
“We were delighted that the vast majority of the LGBT community came behind our plans and we are sorry that we have let people down.”
He said there was no credibility in allegations by Mardi Gla’s former health and safety co-ordinator, Ryan McNaughton, that organisers had failed to address his concerns over insurance, finances, crowd management, medical provision, security and the provision of toilet facilities.
READ MORE: Fears for Glasgow's Pride Festival as organisers fail to pay bill
AGNEW also said the accusations were “unfounded”. “Mardi Gla was in regular meetings with Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life and there was no concern from them at all,” he said. “In fact the council were holding a civic reception on July 19 for Mardi Gla so they were pretty satisfied with what was going on.”
He agreed that the confusion over the two planned events had led to Mardi Gla’s cancellation.
“Corporate sponsors did not know which side to back so the event was completely starved of any money.”
Agnew added that it was “ridiculous” that Glasgow had been left without a proper Pride festival and expressed exasperation at the apparent division within the LGBT community.
There will now be two separate marches – one held by the LGBT Co-operative on July 20 and one held by Pride Glasgow on August 17.
A council spokesman said: “We recognises the importance of a safe, enjoyable and preferably free Pride event for Glasgow and, in particular, its LGBT+ community. However, public safety is the overriding concern when agreeing plans for any event in the city – and financial sustainability and impact on the public purse are also important considerations.”
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