Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray Pride: People are being attacked because of their identity, councillor claims

Councillors unanimously support Moray's first Pride day.
Councillors unanimously support Moray's first Pride day.

People who identify as LGBTQ+ are being targeted verbally and physically a councillor has said.

The comments were made by Moray Council’s equalities champion Juli Harris at a meeting this week.

It comes as the SNP councillor for Speyside Glenlivet, supported by Green member for Forres Draeyk van der Horn, gained unanimous support from other councillors for Moray’s first Pride day.

The event will take place in Elgin on September 3 with speeches and a parade from the town centre to Cooper Park where there will be entertainment and competitions.

Ms Harris said there were problems facing members of the LGBTQ+ community in the area.

Verbal and physical abuse

She said: “People are still being attacked verbally and physically because of their identity.”

Ms Harris added being targeted had an impact on young people being able to come out, with many choosing to leave the area because of negative attitudes towards them.

Mr van der Horn said: “As an out queer man this motion is very close to my heart.

“For many, they do not feel accepted to love or experience love.

“This must change.”

Unanimous support for first Moray Pride day

He added recent figures showed young members of the LGBT+ community were twice as likely to contemplate suicide than their straight counterparts, with increased incidents of self harm.

Councillors backed the Pride in Moray event. They also recognised the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in rural areas – especially younger people.

More information on the event is available on Pride in Moray’s Facebook page and website.

Conversation