Organisers of Aberdeen's Pride parade step back over 'hostile climate' and funding pressures

Four Pillars, which provides services to LGBT+ people across Grampian, shared the announcement on social media on Wednesday. The organisers said it was one of the “hardest” decisions the organisation had made.

In the statement, organisers cited an increasingly “hostile” political climate and ongoing funding pressures affecting LGBT+ services as the reasons behind the move.

The statement said: “We are living in a time where the safety and wellbeing of LGBT+ people is under increasing pressure. The political climate is growing more hostile. The rights and dignity of our community are being questioned in ways we have not seen in decades.

“Many in our community are struggling, with mental health, isolation, identity-based harm, and a growing uncertainty about the future. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure reliable funding to sustain LGBT+ services.”

The statement continued: “To host an event the size of Grampian Pride requires enormous time, financial resources and emotional labour. At this moment, diverting those resources away from frontline support would place the wellbeing of our community - and the survival of our life-saving services - at risk.

“We cannot and will not allow that to happen.”

Four Pillars chief executive Deejay Whittingham told the BBC the organisation was seeing a rise in hate incidents, with more people experiencing abuse online and out in public.

He said providing services and support to the community was the organisation’s priority and securing funding for the event was becoming increasingly difficult.

"We need support right now," he said. "The lack of funding and support we get elsewhere means we need to re-focus that money.

"Justifying Pride and the expense that goes into that, we just cannot do that."

Grampian Pride has run since 2018.