Hundreds March with Cara-Friend at Belfast Pride

The annual Belfast Pride Parade was a roaring success again this year with thousands of people taking part in the parade, as well as thousands lining the streets to watch in support. The streets were awash with colour, positivity, love and noise as the LGBTQI+ community and their allies demonstrated their presence and their demands: equal rights, equal marriage, respect, healthcare, education, gender recognition.

Cara-Friend was part of the leading bloc and moved off at 1pm with over 100 young people from our youth groups in Belfast, Derry-Londonderry, Armagh, Newry, Cookstown and Ballymena. We were also joined by our friends from other LGBTQI+ youth groups across Northern Ireland. We were also delighted to have some of the Board of ShoutOut with us, who are our partners in Dublin. As the Parade took off the Cara-Friend identity flags were flying high, showing the diversity of our young people: LGBTQI+, bisexual, pansexual, gender queer, transgender, asexual, non-binary, etc.

As the Parade continued more and more young LGBTQI+ people joined in behind the banners of Cara-Friend LGBTQI+ Youth and the LGBTQI+ Switchboard. By the time the Parade ended back at Albert Clock the bloc was a couple of hundred strong. New friendships were made, new connections were made, and a whole lot of LGBTQI+ young people felt a whole lot more empowered!