WORDS BY ISLA MCCAY (SHE/HER)

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Living in the Cairngorms, surrounded by environments rich with native plants and wildlife, I found myself feeling more at home than I had ever expected to when I decided to move to Aviemore from Edinburgh at the end of 2021. In the first two years that I lived here, I regularly answered the question ‘isn’t there anything you miss about living in a city?’ with a confident no.

It wasn’t until I noticed the words ‘Cairngorms Pride’ in rainbow font on my phone screen that a realisation began. I had seen a post in my local community Facebook group, with a link to a survey asking about interest in an LGBTQ+ Pride for the Cairngorms area. Maybe something had been missing from my life in Aviemore?

As I responded rapidly to each question, my enthusiasm for the idea grew. I could immediately picture a celebration of queer identity in the unique environment of the Cairngorms, with opportunities for community, nature, art, and so much more. When I reached the end of the survey and had the chance to express interest in being part of a working group, I knew I had to get involved.

The Pride Consultation also offered a chance for local businesses and organisations to express interest and support, so I completed it on behalf of my workplace as well. As an adult I’ve been privileged to never feel the need to hide any part of my identity, whether with friends, family, or at work. But there’s a difference between that and being actively proud about every facet of your identity. This was an opportunity with both personal meaning, and for the wider team I work with to play our part in something that had huge potential for the local community.  

In May 2024, the first in person gathering of the working group was organised. The geography of the Cairngorms is one of its finest features, but it doesn’t make arranging a mutually accessible location very easy for everyone. I drove to Tomintoul on a grey evening after a busy day at work, mist and rain casting the hillsides in a moody light. I was nervous about walking in late to a room of people I didn’t know and considered that it would be easier to just abandon the idea altogether and go home to a cosy fire.

When I arrived and the session got underway, the realisation that had begun when I first encountered the consultation survey reached a point of clarity. I hadn’t been in a proudly queer inclusive space for years. It isn’t always clear what people mean when they say ‘inclusion’; I think that above all it’s a feeling. It’s an ease and comfort that comes from being in a space (even a room full of people you’ve never met before) where everyone has shared understanding and values.

Within any group of humans, you’ll find an infinite variety of experiences and perspectives that distinguish each from the other, but the commonality always stands out and creates unique bonds between everyone. In an inclusive space, those differences are appreciated and the similarities celebrated. That feeling combined with the friendly faces, variety of pride flags and equally colourful cakes, meant I felt both relaxed and energised as soon as I arrived.

As the group got to know each other, an appreciation for nature stood out above the rest of our similarities, like a strikingly tall Scots Pine. Who knew people living in the Cairngorms might be interested in wildlife and plants, and motivated to protect them? Driving home after the session, I knew something exciting was happening. If just a few hours had made me feel such a warm, positive glow on a dreich evening, what could Cairngorms Pride achieve for everyone else across our local area once it really got going?

Queer people are already a part of the Cairngorms as much as its red squirrels, pine martens and ospreys. But by working together to create visible opportunities for community action, there could be meaningful benefits for people and the planet.

Cairngorms Pride sits at the intersection of the LGBTQ+ Pride movements and the fight for climate action and justice. It grew organically from this unique position; the results of the consultation surveys demonstrated nature was important to the same people that wanted to see some form of Pride event in the Cairngorms. The power of creating community for greater social inclusion and achieving collective action on behalf of the natural world was obvious; the answer to both is Cairngorms Pride!

At every meeting with the Cairngorms Pride team, inspiration and enthusiasm have been as abundant as heather and gorse on the hillside in summer, with the same uplifting energy that comes from seeing their purple and yellow flowers under a clear blue sky. The clarity and confidence of the team’s vision for an eco-Pride that celebrates and champions queerness and diversity in nature is compelling. Queerness is everywhere in nature, and diversity strengthens human communities the same way it does ecosystems.

It’s been exciting to watch and play a part in the development of Cairngorms Pride as its roots were established. Now that it’s out in the world, I can’t wait to see the various projects that the team have been hard at work developing blossom.

Each is an opportunity for connection, creativity, community action, fun, and real impact for people and the planet.