Pride organisers are hoping for the largest turnout yet for its street parades and rallies this weekend in Dublin and Belfast. The Dublin Pride march is the culmination of a week-long series of events and includes a parade from Parnell Square to Merrion Square where the parade village is located.
This will be the 30th annual parade and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups said they hope last year’s turnout of 30,000 will be surpassed.
The theme of thisyear’s event is “Live, Love and Be Proud” and organisers say they hope to see “an explosion of colour, music, glitter, sequins and even feather boas”.
The rally will be addressed in Merrion Square today by representatives of a range of organisations including Marriage Equality, LGBT Noise, Transgender Equality Network Ireland, and BeLonG To Youth Services on a range of issues.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said that he hoped the Pride rally would be “ an expression of hope that we must turn into an enduring time of solid equality-based achievement”.
He added: “Coinciding with Dublin Pride rally, this week the Irish Prison Service announced that it joined the GLEN Diversity Champions Programme.
“On foot of this, the Prison Service has introduced a diversity champion in each of the State’s 14 prisons who will act as a point of contact for LGBT staff members.”