Tens of thousands march for equality at Belfast Pride

Belfast Pride has seen tens of thousands of people march for equality, with many attendees calling for same-sex marriage to be legalised across the country.

The Pride parade’s theme was “Come Out for Change,” and protesters took this to heart, campaigning in their droves for abortion rights, a ban on gay ‘cure’ therapy and for marriage equality to be brought to Northern Ireland – the only part of the UK where it’s still illegal.

Parade organisers tried to take a poster off a girl because it said Fuck the DUP #BProud2018 #PrideisaProtest pic.twitter.com/d89sHGCIUu

— Georgia | Saoirse (@green_grainger) August 4, 2018

However, the ugly side to the parade once again reared its head, as Ellie Evans – who had her “F**k the DUP” sign confiscated from her during the last Pride parade – once again had to endure officials’ attempts to take her placard.

This year, her sign read: “F**K THE DUP” – with the “U” covered with the face of DUP MLA Jim Wells, who vowed to boycott Primark earlier this month because of its LGBT collection – above the additional note: “Abortion rights NOW.”

This time, the 25-year-old bisexual protester – who only had an official investigation against her dropped in February – resisted and clung on to her sign, which she showed off proudly at the end of the parade, clad in a Love Equality t-shirt and with a “F**k the DUP” sign on her head.

Evans made it to the end of the parade with her newly broken sign (nifoodwarrior/twitter)

But speaking to PinkNews, Evans, who comes from Essex and lives in Belfast, said: “It was actually way worse than last year.