It’s the Pride Issue, so this month we’ve asked what does Pride mean to you and why?

NEAVE ALOUF

Pride for me is about the sense of family. It’s such a great experience to be included in the energy and love of the LGBT+ community. The positivity that is spread around the city is infectious, and I really feel blessed to be able to be a part of something bigger that’s so important and that’s been growing so rapidly.

OISIN KENNY

Pride is like a mood ring. Every year it takes on a different color. My first year at Pride I went alone. Since then I have gone to Pride with family and friends. Pride is a journey, showing how far the community has grown and how we can go further.

EMMET KING

When I was a closeted teenager from a rural village, I used shopping as an excuse to visit Dublin on Pride. I was jealous of the people who were so happy with no fear of being seen. I’m marching this year for people who are like I was - alone and afraid of coming out. I hope they can be inspired by Pride and happy with who they are.

MICHAEL KUHL

Pride is a de-armouring and softening of the heart which allows for authentic celebration. It means that I am not required to apologise for wanting happiness or for having sexual desire. It is fortifying in its affirmation that there is a community that has my back.

MARLON JIMENEZ-COMPTON

The significance Dublin Pride has had to my life is indescribable. I come from Venezuela where there is no such thing as Pride, therefore I feel privileged to be living in a country where gay rights are human rights. To me, Pride is the perfect time to celebrate who I am truly not only as queer, but also as a person. Que viva Gay Pride!

PETER DUNNE

Pride is our time to show our LGBT+ family that we are all connected. To let our community know we are there for each other and we have each other’s backs. It is a time to recognise our achievements, to commemorate our struggles and, obviously, to celebrate.

LISA CONNELL

Pride is a celebration of our community’s visibility in our cities and towns and a mark of how far our LGBT+ community has come in half a century. But more vitally to me, Pride is a clarion call to our community and the wider society for all the work still to do for an equal Ireland - ending Direct Provision, equality rights for LGBT+ parents and free and accessible sexual health services for all.

STEFANO PAPPALARDO

Pride means celebrating our diverse community, the progress we have achieved and the people who made it possible. It means being visible and showing support for our LGBT+ siblings who are still being persecuted for being who they are. Oh, and it’s also a great excuse to party!

KATIE DONOHOE

Pride to me is a synergy that gives us the power to connect deeply as a community and use that energy to fight for equality for the entire spectrum of our LGBT+ family. That is a feeling that money can’t buy.

SAMANTHA MCCAFFREY

Pride means self acceptance and self love in the deepest sense of those words. It’s about loving who you are and where you’ve come from as well as loving the people in your life and those around you. It’s about dreaming of a day where who you are or who you love is no longer a question.

DAVE DARCY

Pride is a celebration of all-of-the-best-bits-of-all-of-us; the positivity, the understanding, the support, the unity, the togetherness, the protection, the inclusion, the caring, the hope, the love ... it’s one of those magical moments when it feels like we’re getting it right.