As Frank Ocean sings in ‘We All Try’ “I believe that marriage isn’t between a man and woman, but between love and love”. Certainly, when I observed the LGBT Pride March, it seemed to me that the people of Yorkshire fully believed in and endorsed this very sentiment. On Saturday 10 June the streets of York were taken over as a celebration of standing strong to who we are.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride March saw thousands of people from all of over Yorkshire, come together to celebrate LGBT pride and raise awareness for equality.
Dressed in iconic rainbow flags, adorned with feather bowers, wigs, and scarves, people of all ages – including students from every single secondary school in York – paraded through the city of York in a show of solidarity.
Together with the rainbow colours, the parade was packed with the feeling of love, as couples, families and friends of different backgrounds and sexual orientations marched together proclaiming their right to demonstrate their love in whatever form it might take.
In the wake of recent terror attacks, security at the march was noticeably heavy, yet the atmosphere was electric, and a sense of resilience filled the air, as people celebrated their freedom and their right to be whoever they choose and to love whomever they choose.
Remember Pride isn’t just for one day of the year, it is how we should live every single day.
As originally published on One&Other
Images by Dami Ayo-Vaughan and Benedict Santos-Pearcy