CONCERN over the names of drag artists has led to a change of venue for a community Pride event in Portishead which is taking place this Sunday (June 23).

The North Somerset LGBT+ Forum Community Pride event, which was due to take place at the Portishead Youth & Community Centre, will now take place at the Poacher pub on the town’s High Street.

The Portishead Youth & Community Centre said they “were surprised to see some of the drag artists had sexually suggestive social media content and names”.

“For this reason only”, they also said, “we felt we were unable to collaborate on hosting drag artists on this occasion”.

The LGBT+ forum said they announced a change of venue for its Pride event as they feel the site originally scheduled does not “promote a safe and welcoming space” for its community.

The forum also said they “will therefore be postponing all future involvement” with the youth centre.

The youth centre said they were “really saddened” to hear about the forum’s decision.

The full message from the North Somerset LGBT+ Forum said: “The North Somerset LGBT+ Forum has taken the decision not to hold this weekend's Community Pride Event at Portishead Youth & Community Centre.

“The forum has been made aware of behaviours and views within the centre's trustee board which we do not feel promotes a safe and welcoming space for members of our community.

“We will therefore be postponing all future involvement with the centre and we have invited them to work with us so they can work better with the LGBT+ community of Portishead and ensure the safety and acceptance of LGBT+ visitors to the Centre in the future.

“However, the forum are thrilled to announce that the kind owners of the Poacher pub in Portishead High Street have offered their venue and outdoor space to hold the event instead.

“The forum is incredibly grateful to the Poacher for this offer, as last year's Portishead Pride took place within its walled beer garden and conservatory and was a roaring success.

“We'd therefore like to thank Andy and Amy at the Poacher for their support and their approach to being inclusive, accessible and truly understanding of the LGBT+ community in Portishead.

“The forum trustees and volunteers will be working hard over the next few days to bring this event to the community of Portishead, as we feel the show must go on in order to provide a safe space to celebrate love, acceptance and diversity.

“We look forward to seeing our community members, allies and their friends, families and pets from 12pm onwards on Sunday, June 23.

The full message from the Portishead Youth & Community Centre read: “We are really saddened to hear the recent post from our friends over at NS LGBT+ Forum.

“We have been looking forward to being part of this event and working with NS LGBT+ Forum, to provide a positive, fun and inclusive day for families of all ages to enjoy.

“The event had been agreed and advertised as being an inclusive family fun day with craft and charity stalls, entertainment activities and LGBT+ merchandise.

“A few days ago, we were made aware of a post that had been put on Facebook, detailing a number of drag artists booked by NS LGBT+ Forum for the event this Sunday.

“Initially, we proposed our dance studio for the drag artists, a colourful and energetic space we thought would match the energy of the entertainment proposed.

“However, upon further investigation, we were surprised to see some of the drag artists had sexually suggestive social media content and names, that we felt did not align with our expectations for a family-friendly community event.

“For this reason only, we felt we were unable to collaborate on hosting drag artists on this occasion.

“We take our duty of care to children, young people and other vulnerable visitors very seriously and any event that takes place in our building must run in line with our organisational ethos.

“Upon reflection, we also had concerns around our miscommunication to our community as the original poster did not include drag artists.

“We pride ourselves on full transparency and felt we had not met this standard on this occasion.

“We are saddened by NS LGBT+ Forum’s decision to withdraw from holding this event at Portishead Youth & Community Centre.

“We had hoped that they would understand our commitment to children, young people and other users we work with and that they could continue with the event we advertised, without entertainment from drag artists, however, they have decided not to.

“We continue to support Pride month within our community centre, and we welcome support from our community with a RAINBOW Raffle where monies raised will go to LGBTQ+ resources for our Youth Workers to utilise.

“We wish NS LGBT+ Forum a happy and successful event at The Poacher on Sunday.”