Porty Pride is an intergenerational, intersectional, accessible community-run pride. We see community as a positive tool of activism and community-building as a powerful solution to social injustices.

Our community includes LGBTQ+ communities and their allies because it needs all of us to bring about the world we want to live in.

LGBTQ+ people enrich Porty life, and we want to celebrate this within our communities. It belongs to Porty.

Our ethos is to provide a safe, intergenerational, celebratory and educational Pride weekend for the whole LGBTQ+ community and our allies in a respectful environment. We aim to bring the whole community of Porty together to mark Pride and support everyone in our community to be themselves.

Porty Pride came about in 2021 during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Understandably, Pride marches were cancelled during the pandemic, yet this inevitably dimmed the visibility of LGBTQ+ communities, many of whom were facing additional challenges and discrimination exacerbated by Covid-19. We understood why we couldn't come together to march during the pandemic, but this didn't remove the need for Pride.

In 2021 we celebrated Pride Month by flying Progress flags along Portobello High Street. It was a huge success and created a positive and safe environment for the local community.

Off the back of this success, we held the first ever Porty Pride in June 2022 and it was incredible! With street parties, family-friendly events and lots of sunshine, the sense of community and solidarity was very strong.

In 2024 we are delighted to announce that Porty Pride has been awarded funding by The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland, giving us a seed fund that will enable us to continue with Porty Pride and to plan ahead for our future. We thank them for their support and their belief in our LGBTQ community.

Porty Pride is an entirely community-funded organisation. We do not wish to create or contribute to any activity which would equate to “pink washing” (the promotion of the LGBT+ friendliness of a corporate or political entity in an attempt to downplay or soften aspects of it considered negative).

We were Scotland’s first Fossil Free Pride and our decision-making aligns with the Fossil Free Pride Pledge.

All funds will be used to cover our costs which include venue and equipment hire, paying LGBTQ+ performers, speakers and activists, BSL interpreters and keeping everyone safe and sound. Should we make any profit over these costs, we automatically reinvest it to contribute to the future of Porty Pride. In the future we would especially like to ensure Porty Pride remains accessible as possible and be able to continue to hire BSL interpreters.