The countdown for the annual Manchester Pride Festival is on, and Return has already started the parade!

Today, we all got involved to raise money for LGBT and related causes, including The Albert Kennedy Trust. AKT supports young LGBT 16-25 year olds who are made homeless or living in a hostile environment. To raise funds, the Return team dressed in their best rainbow colours, had a special screening of RuPaul’s Drag Race, did some fabulous face-painting, and baked some tasty treats.

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Why did Pride begin?

The spark of Pride began when members of the LGBT community staged a spontaneous riot against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in downtown Manhattan, on 28 June 1969.  Fred Sargeant, who wrote the first person account of the riot, is quoted as saying, “no floats, no music, no boys in briefs”. Instead, they held up signs chanting:

“Say it clear, say it loud. Gay is good, gay is proud.”

Widely considered as the single most important event in the gay liberation movement, 45 years later the riots still bring the global LGBT community together to march with pride and positivity.

To celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, Manchester Pride Festival will take place over this bank holiday weekend around the city’s Gay Village, where there will be DJs from around the world coming to play at some of Manchester’s biggest clubs. Other celebrations will be held in the bars including CRUZ 101, Aftershock, EVA, MANFEST, BARPOP. For the first time, this year they will be hosting silent discos and sing along cinemas, featuring the films Grease and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Find out more about Manchester Pride Festival