Wicklow Pride postpone Rainbow Disco 'due to recent threats and actions'

Wicklow Pride announced that their Rainbow Disco pride event has been postponed due to alleged recent “threats and actions”.

The LGBTQ+ organisation announced the rescheduling of the event in an Instagram post last night that stated that the decision “was not made lightly” and was made to “prioritise the safety and well-being” of the community.

The group claim that they have "faced threats of protest from some residents of Newtownmountkennedy, whilst enduring malicious accusations".

The “baseless attacks are deeply troubling”, the group said, and claimed that one of their members received a note through their home letterbox “branding them” with the same accusations.

“Our young people, who look to us for safety and acceptance, must be our priority,” Wicklow Pride added. “We cannot, in good conscience, hold this event under such hostile conditions. Their safety and mental wellbeing come first.”

The group said queer people face “threats, accusations and sometimes violence” for simply being who they are, and that “anti-LGBTQ+ attacks and murders are still a tragic reality”, which is why there is a need for events like Rainbow Disco.

“Wicklow Pride exists to celebrate love, acceptance and the right to live without fear,” they said. “It exists to show that we will not be silenced or pushed into the shadows.”

The organisation then invited the community of Newtownmountkennedy to stand with Wicklow Pride by joining the Wicklow Pride Parade on July 6, and asked local businesses to show their solidarity by dressing their windows with a pride flag or pride colours.

 

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The Wicklow Pride Festival was created by chair of Wicklow Pride, Dave Thomas, an LGBTQIA+ activist since the late ‘80s, and his Civil Partner Patrick Bracken in 2015.

When the pair moved to Arklow, they saw that there were no LGBTQIA+ groups in Arklow or surrounding areas and decided to create Wicklow Pride.

In July 2023, Wicklow Pride held their first pride parade with over 2,000 people from the local community attending.

The postponement of Rainbow Disco follows the recent trend of anti-LGBTQ+ behaviours such as the cancellation of a Dublin Gay Men's choir pride event by St. Andrews Church, and a homophobic attack involving three gay men being chased by a group of armed men in Phoenix Park on Monday June 17.