‘Behind the glitter, there is real anger, but also a determination that discrimination against LGBT+ people must end.’ – Patrick Corrigan

As thousands of people took to the streets of Belfast for the city’s annual Pride parade, campaigners in Northern Ireland have issued another call for the UK Government to extend marriage equality legislation to the region.

Campaigners from the Love Equality campaign used the Belfast Pride parade to highlight their call for Theresa May’s government to extend marriage rights to LGBT couples in Northern Ireland.

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International, one of the members of the Love Equality coalition, said:

“Pride is still a protest in Belfast. The LGBT+ community in Northern Ireland, their friends, families and allies, have come out today to demand equality for all.

“Pride is always the most colourful day of the year in Belfast. This year it is bigger and brighter than ever. Behind the glitter, there is real anger, but also a determination that discrimination against LGBT+ people must end.

“Northern Ireland is now years behind the rest of the UK and Ireland on marriage equality. People on the streets of Belfast today are sick of a second-class citizenship based on who they are and where they live.

“Theresa May and Karen Bradley should be ashamed that, eighteen months after the collapse of devolution, same-sex couples in Northern Ireland are still waiting to be treated as equals. This is now in their hands.”

The Love Equality campaign for equal marriage in Northern Ireland is led by the Rainbow Project, Amnesty International, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Cara-Friend, NUS-USI and HereNI.