Ciara Maguire is a lesbian feminist activist and the chair of Free Pride. In 2015, when Glasgow Pride announced that they would be charging people for tickets to Glasgow’s main Pride event, Ciara and others decided to create their own space for everyone, Free Pride. Their goal was to make sure that lack of funds was not a barrier to any member of LGBTQ+ community to attend an event that celebrated their history, and raised awareness of issues.

In the years since then, Free Pride has gone from strength to strength under Ciara’s leadership. It is focused on Pride being a way to protest injustice, fighting for issues that still need to be addressed, such as trans rights, inclusion of disabled people, and the treatment of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers.

Free Pride is an inclusive space for all LGBTQ+ people and as the name suggests it is completely free so that everyone can enjoy it, no matter what their income is. To fund running this event, Ciara organises regular fundraisers throughout the year, which again are accessible to all LGBTQ+ people in Glasgow.

In addition to all this, she is also involved with Lock Up Your Daughters, a queer arts collective that makes films, music videos, and magazines; organises blazing dance parties and screenings and workshops. She also volunteers with Scottish Queer International Film Festival, and helps to organise film screenings, workshops and other film related events in Scotland, with a goal to get more people watching, talking about, and making more queer films.