The third annual Midsomer Norton Pride took place last week, beginning with a message of inclusivity and understanding on Thursday, 14th June – which saw a panel discussion at the Town Hall on what life is like for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people living in our area.

This was followed on Friday by a free screening of the critically acclaimed film, Call Me By Your Name at the Community Cinema, with the highly-anticipated unicorn-themed Bake Off taking place on Saturday.

The Bake Off took place at Midsomer Norton Town Hall, with an excellent turn out for the family-friendly event. The cakes entered were all of a high standard, and included two cakes which were vegan, one which was gluten-free, and one baked to show the colours of the LGBT flag.

Judging was carried out by Midsomer Norton’s Mayor, Paul Myers, with Pride organiser, Nik Jovcic-Sas, Drag Queen Meth, and a special guest judge from the charity, Stonewall.

The Bake Off winner was Tilly Walters, who embraced this year’s theme of ‘unicorns’ with a carousel cake – a vegan, lemon and elderflower cake, with home-made lavender infused shortbread, and a vegan meringue topping. After the judging and presentation of prizes, all of the cakes were shared out with glasses of bubbly or cups of tea, with live music by local band, the Ramshackle Orchestra.

FDC Law sponsored the Pride Bake Off for the second time since the event was created. Marjorie Taylor, FDC Law Partner, said: “We have a strong history of involvement in our local communities, providing support and sponsorship for a wide range of groups, from the Rugby and Cricket Clubs, to music and Arts Festivals. We feel that Pride, and the local LGBTQ community, are another important part of our wider local community, and are very happy to be involved again.

“We’re already looking forward to next year’s Bake Off!”

After the judging, Cllr Paul Myers spoke briefly to congratulate the winners, and to speak about the importance of the work which Norton Pride is doing, and sought volunteers for a local advisory committee.

On Saturday evening, the big finale saw a live music extravaganza,which coinciding with the World Cup, had a Russian theme.

This year’s Pride has been different in that it has aimed to get people really talking about what life is like as an LGBTQ+ person living in the Somer Valley; both the younger and older generations.

Speaking to The Journal, one resident told us: “Whilst I no longer have to hide the fact that I’ve shared my life with another man for thirty years, I don’t feel that in living in the Somer Valley for the last twenty years, that I’ve really achieved the equality I campaigned for way back in the 1980s, when I went on my first Pride event in London.

“True, I don’t risk prison for my lifestyle, as earlier generations of gay men did, and I can take someone to court if they discriminate against me. But the fact is that every day, I face low level discrimination, and by not always challenging ignorance and at times, going out of my way to avoid it – I quite frankly freel rather sad.

“In the case of young people, our schools have made great progress in educating children in the diversity of sexuality – covering the full alphabet soup of the ever-extending LGBT definition.

“Enter schools now, and you’ll find gender-neutral toilets and on the whole, more progressive and liberal values. There are still instances of bullying (including insidious forms through digital media, which didn’t exist in my youth), but these are addressed with a level of positive support unimaginable years ago.

“I could have avoided all of this by living in central London – maybe even walked down the road and held my partner’s hand in public. But I chose to come and live in the Somer Valley, because I don’t feel I’m defined only by my sexuality. I want to be part of a wider community – and I couldn’t have found a more warm-hearted one anywhere else in the world. But how good would it be to be treated more equally, so that I could feel truly part of the community.”

Midsomer Norton Pride was organised under the banner of the Midsomer Norton Community Trust, with funding support from Midsomer Norton Town Council. Paul Myers, Mayor of Midsomer Norton, said: “It was good to see Midsomer Norton Pride, now in its third year, hold a session where members of the LGBT community could come together to discuss the issues they face.

“Personally, I believe the message from the session was clear when it comes to a solution. The reality in the Somer Valley today is that whatever equality laws are passed by Parliament, their impact on ordinary peoples’ lives depends on people actually taking them on board in terms of our attitudes as we live our lives together as a community.

“To put it another way, changing attitudes on the ground in society means siblings, parents, grand-parents, aunts and uncles, friends, acquaintances, businesses, community groups – in short everyone – accepting, respecting and celebrating difference.”