The Origins of Mull Pride
Every community has moments that quietly change its story. For Mull, one of those moments came in 2018.
That year, five members of Mull Senior Youth Theatre created an original performance exploring what it meant to grow up as part of the LGBTQIA+ community in a small Hebridean island. Developed through the National Theatre of Scotland’s Theatre Makers of Now programme, the young people chose to tell a story that was deeply personal, rooted in their home, and shaped by compassion, honesty and hope.
At a time when Queer rights and identities were increasingly the subject of national debate and division, these young islanders responded not with anger but with empathy. Their performance asked how a rural and sometimes marginalised community could become a place where everyone belongs, and in doing so offered a powerful vision of what Mull could be. The work was performed to a full house at Mull Theatre, presented at a national festival at Eden Court, recognised by the John Byrne Award, and widely praised for its courage and authenticity.
Its greatest legacy, however, was not on the stage.
Inspired by the conversations their work had sparked, the young people themselves went on to organise Mull’s first Pride march through the streets of Tobermory, supported by local volunteers, organisations and the wider community. What began as a youth-led act of solidarity with their LGBTQIA+ friends, family and neighbours has grown into an annual celebration of inclusion, visibility and belonging: a joyful affirmation that Mull, Iona and Ulva are places where everyone should feel safe, respected and free to be themselves.
An Tobar and Mull Theatre is proud to facilitate Mull Pride each year to celebrate the vision, courage and leadership of those young people who chose not simply to imagine a more welcoming and inclusive community, but to help create one. Their actions stand as a reminder that culture is something we make together, and that young people have the power to shape the places they call home into communities they are proud to belong to.
To continue to support us making events like this, donate below: