Belfast Pride 2010 – A Picture Gallery

By Patrick Griffin.

Golden boy...Belfast Pride 2010 was a riot of colour

IT was the 20th annual Belfast Pride event so it simply had to be something special. Something extraordinary. Something out-of-this-world even.

And it was all three of the above.

In a city where more traditional parades can sometimes spark riots of destruction and violence, Saturday’s parade transformed Belfast into a riot of colour, noise  and excitement.

I decided to capture some of the excitement of Belfast Pride in pictures and a photo gallery of the images which summed up the day for me are shown below.

The city centre came to a standstill as more than 10,000 people took to the streets to watch the thousands more taking part in the spectacular event of energy, emotion and passion.

Can't mask the excitement...Belfast Pride 2010.

Organisers, festival goers, supporters and the volunteers who made it all happen were determined that nothing would rain on this special anniversary event…even the weather.

Early rain showers immediately ahead of the parade failed to dampen anyone’s spirits and by the time the procession set off from Custom House Square the rain had mostly stopped, the clouds began to disappear and – rarely for a Belfast Summer’s day – the sun put in an appearance.

This event – Ireland’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans festival - was huge, and loud and fun and exciting and inclusive for all.

Clerical support...“We want to make our position very clear – gay and lesbian people are entitled to express their sexuality and their Christianity."

For the first time representatives from a group connected to the Church Of Ireland took part and marched with their clerical collars on.

This would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Absolutely unthinkable. But on Saturday it happened.

Rev Chris Hudson from Changing Attitude Ireland summed it up best.

He said: ”This is the first time we have had three ministers walking with our clerical collars on.

“We want to make our position very clear – that is that we believe that gay and lesbian people are entitled to express their sexuality and their Christianity.”

Obviously not everyone agreed with Belfast Pride or Rev Hudson’s sentiments and a small number of protestors held a counter-demonstration at City Hall during the afternoon.

The parade adopted an ‘outer space’ theme this year – so fitting for an event which really has become out of this world.

Celebrations continued at Custom House Square into the early evening and at pubs and clubs across the city throughout the night.

* Click on the links below to see a larger size image.

PG