Isle of Wight Festival backs island's Pride

Former Conservative MP Andrew Turner stepped down from his role in April after he was reported to have called homosexuality a ‘danger to society.’

This has prompted festival organiser John Giddings and his team to take a stand and show their support for Pride and the LGBT community on the island.

John said: ‘When people make comments from a position of responsibility, it can reflect badly on our whole community on the island. My experiences on the island are different and I want to reverse the negative view and through the festival, let the island community show the rest of the UK that we do embrace diversity here, everybody is welcome on the Island irrespective of who they are or who they love and that love wins.’

Members of TeamPride will be running a stand at the festival in Seaclose Park this coming weekend and invite revellers to come and join them in a range of activities to raise awareness of Pride and the island’s LGBT community.

Isle of Wight Pride takes place in Ryde on July 15, starting with a parade through the town at 11am and leading to a large free event on Harbour Beach. Visit IWPride.org for further details. To join TeamPride at the Isle of Wight festival, email [email protected] for the chance to be a part of their Pride stall.