The Begining: Bute Pride (2018 - )
Bute Pride was launched in 2018 by a local business (The Scottish HonkyTonk Hotel & Bar) by 2 allies, in recognition of their LGBTQ+ clients and that there was nothing to represent the Queer Community on the small Isle of Bute. It was a small affair with a Parade from Rothesay Town out to Ardeg Point and had a picnic on the green and later a drag show in the bar. It was very well attended drawing a crowd (around 100 people) from Glasgow and the surrounding mainland communities.
Barbra LaBush was one of the Queens performing and getting the crowd active from the start and has attended all but one Bute Pride event up until 2025.
Due to the success of BP18, it was repeated in 2019, this time with an added Friday night event. Over 150 people attended the Parade and the ticketed events were a sell out.
ButeLGBT Community Group (2019- )
Alan Izat who assisted the HonkyTonk with their 2019 events and had moved to Bute in Nov 2018, decided to try to reach out to other LGBTQ+ residents on the island, and held an initial meeting of ButeLGBTQ+ in December 2019. From this formed the Group we now have. The Group agreed to take over production of Bute Pride as a non-commercial event delivered by a not-for-profit organisation. We had an enormous amount of support & some admin finacial assistance from the Equality Network Scotland in doing so.
Just as things were taking off we were hit by the Covid SARS19 pandemic in March 2020 and had to postpone things along with the rest of the world. However that didn’t stop us having a virtual Bute Pride Parade - with 3 of us spaced at 2m intervals carrying flags, playing music and filming / live streaming the entire event.
We also took part in an Argyll-Wide Virtual Pride in joint collaboration with Dunoon Pride & Oban Pride which was extemely popular, co-hosted by the then Chairs of each group, and featuring performers who would have been at our Prides.
In 2021, as we tentatively came out of lockdowns and restrictions started to lift, we went ahead with plans for Bute Pride 2021 and resumed monthly in-person meetings. Initially we sought approval for a June date, but shifted it to September 2021 to give more time for restrictions to lift. We had a re:PRIDE relaunch event to kick things off in May 2021 attended by the local MP.
The BP21 was a surprisingly large event with a shorter parade then a Pride on The Prom, family friendly afternoon with entertainment and information stalls. Ripper Moff made their debut with us and has attended & performed at every Pride since then. There was a ticketed event in the Ritz with a cabaret show in the evening which was packed with 120 people in a 400 capacity venue (restrictions again!), which worked amazingly well. We also had a hangover hike on the Sunday lead by Bill from LEAP Sports Scotland.
2022 was a bad year for the group with all 3 of the main core committee all leaving the island fairly close together, and nobody feeling confident to take over the work. The group fell by the wayside for a couple of years.
Re-grouping (2023)
In August of 2023 there was some local interest in reforming ButeLGBTQ+ Community Group & Bute Pride. Angie Webb very kindly agreed to Chair and a new committee began its journey. Regular meetings have been held ever since and Bute Pride relaunch event took place in the Bank of Ideas again in June 2024 - this one attended by our strong supported Jenni Minto, our MSP.
Bute Pride 2024 was long-awaited and a tremendous success - this time with a parade leaving the IoB Sailing Club / watersports centre and ending at Bute Yard - where an afternoon and evening of live events took place. over 600 people attended throughout the weekend. Additionally there was a cinema screening on the Friday afternoon, Barbra LaBush perfroming at the Cadillac Kustomz (ex HonkyTonk) in hte evening, and finished with another Hangover hike on the Sunday followed by a closing Hangover Hangout at the Galatea Bar. All this was made possible by the relentless work of our volunteer committee and a small grant from the National Lottery commission.
2025 brought a light change to the committee with joint Chairs for the first time and joint Treasurers too! Sometimes sharing the load is the only way forward. Monthly meetings continued - with fortnightly ones early in the year and leading up to Bute Pride 2025 in August. This was a similar format to the previous year with the addition of the newly opened LGBTQ+ friendly Rabbies Bar hosting Ripper Moff's Bingo, games and Non-binary burlesque performance until late on the Friday. 850+ people attended this weekend, showing that a good thing can always grow.
Both Co-Chairs stepped down during the Pride weekend and a new interim committee was set up, with Ruth & Fiona taking the lead.
2026 & onwards
The committee has shrunk, but we have introduced the long-awaited monthly social events which started in January, and are well ahead with planning for Bute Pride 2026 on 7-9th August. Currently fingers crossed for further funding, or we will have amuch smaller scaled event, in terms of entertainment, but not in capcity.
We look forwards to seeing you at our monthly socials, at our in-person committee meetings (you can join us online too) or at Bute Pride 2026!!
