Jaydog talks Pride
Wild Rainbows is a group of adults with learning disabilities who are also in the LGBTQ+ community. We are all full time legends and an awesome bunch! Pride is a great vibe, really friendly. You can make new friends you haven’t met yet, and be together as one. You meet new people in your community.
We always used to be in the pride parade but this year we went to the day festival in the park. I went to the park before but not with the group, just on my own or with my sister. It was always great to come together as one, to celebrate who we are. But it was a lot of walking and I was affected for days afterwards. It also costs the charity a lot of money to be in the parade.
This year was awesome! It would be hard to beat it. I thought it was brilliant, better than the parade. We could all talk together, it was more sociable with places to sit and chill, we could be with the group or go off on our own. We could also make friends with other people in the park.
The ticket price with the free carer ticket was reasonable, but full price would have been very expensive. Food and drink was also very pricey in the park, especially alcohol. And personally, I would have preferred the Sunday because I liked those artists better, so maybe we should plan it based on which bands are playing.
I’m not sure about trying the Street Party. It doesn’t appeal to me as much, I don’t think it would be as accessible as the park.
I’m up for trying pride events in other places in Sussex. I’ve been to Eastbourne Pride before and it was good. Also, we could all get the train together and go to Hastings pride to meet the other Wild Rainbows who live there. The train journey would be part of the experience if we are all together.
We should ask the other Wild Rainbows for their opinions. My view is that we already made a massive change to how we do pride this year, so why not try another change for next year?
We asked the other Wild Rainbows for their opinions about Pride.
- They said doing the parade was good but tiring, it wasn’t accessible. They could join the parade with another charity next year, it doesn’t have to be Stay Up Late.
- They thought that going to the park this year was great and they loved it. They said we should meet earlier to have longer and have more of a plan so we do stuff together as a group.
- Bernie went to the street party not the park this year. He said there wasn’t much on, it was a bit dead. There were a lot of drugs and drunk people, which he didn’t like. The toilets were disgusting by the end of the night.
Next year, we the Wild Rainbows want to go somewhere with decent music, a new pride somewhere else and a free pride would be good.
Get ready Hastings or Eastbourne Pride, we’re coming for ya!
– Jason (Jaydog)
