By Natalie Miller

South Ayrshire Council County Buildings have announced they will be supporting LGBT History Month next February when they fly the Pride flag for the whole month.

Although LGBT History Month is celebrated for those 28 days, LGBT History supports the community all year round as they spread the message equality for all. This year at the end of the month the film ‘Moonlight’ won at the Oscars. This was a big achievement towards the community as it was the first LGBT film in history to win ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars.

SNP Councillor Laura Brennan-Whitefield spoke out in support for the pride flag been risen although she did think the media slightly sensationalised this with the front cover of the Daily Record.

Whitefield Said,

“The flag should be already up as a symbol of acknowledgement in modern day society, we are already in solidarity with the LGBT community and more people should know about the elements of the history that comes with this month.

The pride flag been up shows that the South Ayrshire Council has been brought into line now with the modern world we live in. It shows that they don’t stand for any tolerance against LGBT with bullying or any hate crimes towards them.

She continued,

“After 10 years this is a big deal because the pride flag should have already been up and the council itself should be well-known for its inclusiveness and equality for all people around the community.

The pride flag will show representation towards students as UWS and Ayrshire College have supportive societies and groups for LGBT+ who attend both of these. This is a clear sign of how they show initiative in regards to showing how welcome students can feel when they are in that environment.

She later said,

“Comments in some of the media have definitely over sensationalised the pride flag going up. Although this is a positive step in the right direction I am hoping it will just show how much support the Council are showing towards LGBT community and the history month to celebrate in February.”

Some media responses towards this move have been slightly negative, which could be a generation issue as supporting the LGBT community can sometimes bring a rise in issues as there seems to always be at least one person who sees it as a difficult subject.

Some of the South Ayrshire Council colleagues have publicly backed this in the media to voice their support to the LGBT community and by making sure people in Ayr’s local high street are open to sharing their views on this.

Next February is going to be a celebration of LGBT+ and LGBT History Month together for South Ayrshire and there is a hope for all to get behind it. Students will be supporting this from Ayr and around Ayrshire in their local societies and groups that they are apart of.