LONGER READ: Pride defeats prejudices in Inverness
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WHEN James Mackenzie-Blackman travelled from London for an interview for the post of chief executive of Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, he anticipated a question about equality and diversity.
But after 24 hours in the Highland capital, he found himself giving a different response instead of his carefully-prepared answer.
“I said, ‘What you need to know, if you give me this job is I anticipate there are not many families like mine in this city,” the 39-year-old recalled.
“I am married to a man. I have two children, one of whom is mixed race.
“In a place like London, no one would look twice at you in the street. No one is interested.
“You are completely anonymous. No one cares whether you straight or gay.
“I knew if I moved to a place like Inverness and the Highlands that might be different.
“Was I fearful of that? No. Do I think cities become more interesting if they have diverse communities? Yes.
“Did I feel a bit scared? Maybe.”
In October last year – several months after taking up the post – he made a heartfelt speech at the inaugural Proud Ness event.
A 700-signature petition had called for the parade to be banned on religious and moral grounds but did not meet Highland Council’s rules on petitions and instead an estimated 6000 supporters turned out in a show of solidarity for the LGBT community.
“I think one of the reasons so many people came was in defiance of the negative position which was very publicly given air time,” Mr Mackenzie-Blackman said.
“It galvanised people. People are very proud to be from this part of the country and they care about people’s perception of it.”
His sexuality has not been issue in Inverness – rather his anxiety is about his Englishness but he stresses he has not experienced any discrimination.
His earliest memories of growing up in rural South Devon include a sense of being different.
He recalled a family walk when he started swinging a dog lead around his head, proudly proclaiming he was a majorette at which his father insisted he was a cowboy.
“From that day, I knew something was up,” he reflected. “But I was super lucky when I started ‘coming out’.
“I didn’t come out to the people I most care about first as they are the ones you most fear rejection from so I started coming out to people like the woman from Tesco.
“When I ultimately uttered those words to my parents, they were amazing.”
Although he was quite an effeminate teenager, any abusive comments from fellow pupils tended to relate to his thick NHS glasses, bad acne and social awkwardness which he fended off with a capacity to make others laugh.
Changing attitudes among young people were highlighted when he went to an event at Nairn Academy, the first school in the Highlands to receive a Bronze Charter Award from LGBT Youth Scotland for its work on equality.
“Kids don’t ‘come out’ any more,” he said. “They are never in – 14 and 15-year-olds don’t care about it.
“That has to be a good thing for people’s long term mental health.
“Things have changed in the last 20 years. There is still a long way to go but I think we can be optimistic.”
Mr Mackenzie-Blackman and his husband celebrated a civil partnership in 2010 in Marylebone, London with a party and four years later decided to marry. They are now daddy and papa to five and two-year-old boys.
He felt lucky to be raising their sons in the Highlands but acknowledged he did not feel as connected to the area’s LGBT community as much as he would like partly due to time constraints since the move.
“We have not met any other gay families in Inverness to be pals with but that will change I am sure,” he said.
Jess Taylor, who chairs Proud Ness and is a Highland LGBT Forum committee member, said living as a gay woman in the Highlands had been mainly without issue in recent years.
The 36-year-old digital marketing officer and her wife Emma married last year at Belladrum estate near Beauly with more than 100 family and friends present.
She finds it funny when people remark they do not look like lesbians.
“I don’t know what lesbians are supposed to look like,” she said.
“We come in all shapes and sizes, race and how we dress.
“I have long hair and wear dresses every day. I have a shoe and handbag obsession.”
She was not always so comfortable in her sexuality and growing up in Nairn, saw how others who came out were ridiculed or made to feel uncomfortable.
“My best friend came out when we were in our teens and he received some really horrible abuse,” she recalled.
“I wish I’d supported him by coming out too but it wasn’t until I moved away to study that I finally came out and my confidence grew over the years by being part of a bigger LGBT+ community.”
After studying in Glasgow and Edinburgh, she returned to the Highlands 10 years ago and is surrounded by a supportive circle of family, friends and work colleagues at the University of the Highlands and Islands.
“Until last year I was living in my own wee happy bubble with my wife and pooch until the petition against Proud Ness surfaced,” she said.
“It reminded me that while the Highlands has become more accepting there is still work to be done.
“Walking on the march at last year’s Proud Ness also reminded me that we need to reach out across the Highlands to the LGBT+ community and let people know they are not alone.”
Student Ciaran Lucas Wilson, who co-chairs QueerNess, Inverness College UHI’s LGBT+ society, found being a young transgender person in the Highlands could be an isolating experience compared to the support available in places such as Glasgow or Edinburgh.
There was only one gender identity clinic for the region while the experiences of transgender people were different from those of gay, lesbian and bisexual Highlanders.
“This is why Proud Ness is such an important event to hold,” he said. “It’s a place for all of us to come together, to support one another, and to remind us that we’re not alone.”
The Proud Ness event at Bught Park will commence at 2pm on Sunday and feature exhibitions by more than 40 groups supporting the Highland LGBT community, speeches and entertainment. The Pride Parade to Bught Park will start from Crown Primary School at 1pm on Sunday.
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