I've been to dozens of Pride events over the years. Manchester has always been a must. When I was a teenager in Ulverston, Cumbria - a place where I was pretty certain I was the only gay in the village - Manchester always seemed like the bright lights, a land where you could be free and your true self.

This year I'll return again, excited to catch up with my friends and intrigued to see what the new community-focused Pride is all about.

But I suspect there'll be a slightly different mood in the air this year; an awareness that in some parts of the country, Pride has become controversial.

Younger LGBT people still say Pride matters. A 2024 YouGov survey of more than 500 LGBT Britons, aged 16 to 24, found that 90% say it is "very" or "fairly" important that Pride month still exists.

As a young man, I eventually left Ulverston to live in Manchester. But this summer I took a trip back to my old hometown for their Pride festival, a tradition still in its infancy.

The once-familiar cobbled streets looked so different to how I remembered them, lined with cheering locals clapping and filming on phones as a procession bedecked in rainbow flags swept past, led by a brass band playing upbeat gay anthems. It felt a world away from Manchester's famous pop stars and stages covered in corporate logos.

Matt had a similar reflection on returning to Crewe. "What really resonated with me and blew my mind was the fact that it was so family-centred. These small towns put on events that are for the community first and foremost."

As I looked around Ulverston, the national debates that have shaped Pride in recent years felt distant. I was distracted by the small things: people laughing, the spread of ages in attendance. It was the community my teenage self never would have imagined he'd see.

Top image credit: Getty Images.