PRIDE - IN ALL ITS GLORY
CORONATION Street stars, drag queens, kissing policemen and even Jeremy Kyle all hit the streets in the Manchester Pride parade.
Thousands of people lined the route to watch as the flamboyant spectacle made its way through the city centre celebrating equality and love in all its forms.
Led by Manchester’s first openly gay Lord Mayor, Carl Austin Behan, this year’s procession was the biggest yet with more people taking part than ever before.
The Corrie cast nailed the Once Upon A Time theme with their fairytale-themed float, which was a huge gingerbread house version of some of the soap’s most familiar sets – the Rovers Return and the corner shop.
Daniel Brocklebank, who plays vicar Billy Mayhew, said events like Pride mattered more than ever in the wake of tragedies such as the Orlando nightclub shooting earlier this year.
“I think people now think Pride isn’t as important as it was but it’s just as important to get the message out and to show solidarity,” he said.
Another standout moment came from Greater Manchester Police as two policemen stopped to kiss in the middle of the procession.
Summing up the spirit of the event, the officers were greeted with huge cheers from the crowd as they embraced on Deansgate, while dozens of their colleagues marched and danced around them.
Talk show host Jeremy Kyle was also spotted in the parade, filming for the next series of his ITV documentary show The Kyle Files.
Manchester Pride chief executive