Scotland House Pride and Equality event cost and LGBTQ+ network meetings: FOI release

Information requested

1. Information on how much the Scottish Government spent to hire a drag queen to perform at Scotland House, London, for pride? This request includes any travel and subsistence costs given to the drag queen in connection with their performance.

2. Information relating to meetings between the SG’s executive team and the LGBTQ+ network following the Supreme Court’s judgment in For Women Scotland. This request includes how many times they have met and minutes of meetings and correspondence before and after meetings.

For the purposes of this request we are making the following interpretations;

• 'SG's executive team' to mean either individuals who are members of the Executive Team (ET) or ET as a group
• LGBTQ+ to mean the Scottish Government’s LGBTI+ Diversity Network
• Date range 16 April 2025 – date of request (8 July 20)

Response

1. As part of our role in supporting cultural exchange and promoting Scotland’s creative industries, Scotland House partnered with the Association of Exiled Scots (TAOES) who organised the performance by Cherry West, an emerging talent in Scotland’s cultural scene, as part of The Scotland House London Pride and Equality event held on July 1 2025, which also marked the 10th anniversary of marriage equality in Scotland. The costs associated with this were:

Artist Performance Fee (incl. rehearsal), travel and subsistence and technical management costs	£1,818

2. The meetings below took place within this time period;

• 1. LGBTI+ Listening Circle hosted by Director General Corporate and ET Ally Director General Education and Justice on 7 May 2025 .
• 2. Meeting on moderation sensitivities hosted by ET Ally DG Education and Justice on 8 May 2025.
• 3. LGBTI+ Network regular engagement series, including ET Ally DG Education and Justice, hosted by People Directorate started on 28 May 2025 and recurring weekly on the 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th June and the 2nd of July 2025.

Attached is the information we hold in relation to these. Some of the information held was authored by the UK Civil Service who have previously applied Section 35 of the UK FOISA (ministerial communications) to that information. Therefore this information has been withheld under section 28 (1) of the FOISA (Scotland). We recognise the public interest in maintaining transparency however having given due consideration to the material considered for release we consider this to be outweighed by the public interest in maintaining good relations between the UK Government and Scottish Government. 

Exemptions under section 38(1) in relation to personal data also applies to some of the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500475067 - Information Released - Annex

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