Cash-strapped Glasgow City Council is still waiting to be paid for Pride Glasgow events held over four years ago.
The local authority is still owed more than £41,000 for outstanding charges accrued during the Pride 2017 and Pride 2018 events held in Glasgow Green and Kelvingrove Park, according to a Freedom of Information request.
Although attempts have been made to get the money back, including a payment plan set up in 2019, the registered charity is yet to pay off the outstanding balance forcing the council to call in debt collectors.
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Glasgow City Council hasn't collaborated with Pride Glasgow since 2019 when they withdrew permission for an event to be held at the Riverside Museum after organisers failed to meet repayment conditions.
The dispute was then passed onto the council's debt recovery agents and remains outstanding. An agreement is in place for the money to be repaid.
Pride Glasgow has been plagued with issues following their 2018 event which was overshadowed by problems with ticketing. The event was oversold and resulted in hundreds of people with valid tickets and wristbands being denied entry to celebrations at Kelvingrove Park.
Reports of financial irregularities were then made to Police Scotland when a new board of trustees took over at the end of the same year.
Despite their well-publicised issues, organisers have said they will be coming back in 2023 with plans already in place.
Taking to social media at the end of last year, Pride Glasgow said: "We will be sharing the date of Pride Glasgow 2023 in the new year. Along with the amazing people who have been brought together from our community, partners and venues, who will be giving their time, skills, and experience freely to help develop and deliver Pride!"
Glasgow's Pride will be taking place on July 15 with an estimated 5,000 people taking part in a procession through the city centre. This year's theme will be Women of the LGBTQ+ Community and Movement.
A spokesperson for Pride Glasgow said: "‘Pride Glasgow continues a supportive and positive relationship with Glasgow City Council and an agreement has been in place for some time to repay the debt owed from the 2017 and 2018 events.
"Successful marches and fringe events took place in 2019 and after the pandemic in 2022 which were attended by over 12000 people including the Leader and Treasurer of the Council and other key political leaders.
"There has been too much division in a community built on love and equality, so we are proud to be in progressive talks with Mardi Gla/Glasgow’s Pride under the banner of LGBT (Let's Get Back Together) to deliver a joint Pride March this year, uniting our community over the Glasgow Fair weekend."
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