A group of volunteers has come together to reestablish Fermanagh Pride and hopes to run its first Pride parade in the county some time next year.
Fermanagh Pride has relaunched after having been on a hiatus for a number of years, with a small group of volunteers taking up the mantle to provide support to LGBT people locally in the county.
Fermanagh Pride secretary Nigel Wiltshire says the group has been working away quietly in the months since it has relaunched, after it got a ‘wake up call’ that support in the area for LGBT people was not up to scratch.
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“We only got ourselves established again just over a year ago,” Nigel says.
“There was quite a hiatus since Fermanagh Pride last had got anything organised, unfortunately there were a number of factors that affected their ability to do so.
“When the pandemic hit it was the final nail in the coffin and everything had to be put into hibernation mode for quite some time.
“That was a big wake up call and we had to make a choice to start up a new group.
“We have been working hard ever since to see what we can do to organise a Pride parade for the first time in Enniskillen or anywhere else in Fermanagh.
While Nigel admits hosting a Pride parade on Fermanagh is not feasible this year, the group hopes 2024 can be the year when it hosts its first major event.
“We wouldn’t be able to have a parade here at any stage over the next few months at least
“At the moment we haven’t had enough time to plan and we are such a small group.
“ Omagh Pride has been tremendously successful and we cooperate quite a bit. We don’t just support our own initiative, we also support our border county parades as well.
“We haven’t prioritised a Pride parade and we’re fairly open about that, because it’s just not possible this year but if we are fortunate we might be able to plan it for next year.
The group will host its first fundraiser on 27 May, a drag cabaret in the Gasworks nightclub on Belmore Street in Enniskillen.
Nigel added that predominantly rural areas of Northern Ireland still struggle to be comfortable places for those in the LGBT community to live.
“There is an awful lot of people who are leaving Northern Ireland and a good portion of those are people who are LGBT.
“If you are from somewhere rural in Northern Ireland, be it Cookstown or Fermanagh or Strabane, and you decide there is not enough community support or development here, I’m going to move to Belfast.
“Belfast is also not going to be for everybody, that means they will look for a better community elsewhere.
“People move away then for the first time and they don’t want to come back because it scares them with the lack of progress.”
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