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Manchester Pride held its annual parade on Saturday, and to the crowd's delight, the march was led by none other than Sir Ian McKellen, who was honored with the title of Grand Marshal of the festival. Declan Cashin, reporting for BuzzFeed, collected the best Instagram photos of Sir Ian celebrating in the British streets -- and we couldn't be happier.
According to the BBC, this was the 25th anniversary of Manchester Pride. McKellen, a global LGBT icon best known for his roles in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and out director Bryan Singer's X-Men franchise, delivered a rousing speech at the end of the day to thousands of attendees, according to Manchester Evening News. Sir Ian came out in 1988 and has been a vocal gay rights campaginer ever since.
During his speech, McKellen brought onstage Keegan Hirst, the rugby star who came out earlier this month, making him Britain's first openly gay professional rugby league player.
Mark Fletcher, chief executive of Manchester Pride, told the BBC that although "we have come a long way in 25 years, there's still a long way to go. Barriers and boundaries are being broken down but there's still more to be done."
We feel confident with Sir Ian McKellen leading the way.
Alexander Cheves is a memoirist, sex columnist for Out Magazine, and author of My Love Is a Beast: Confessions from Unbound Edition Press, which won the 2022 Geoff Mains Nonfiction Award from NLA International.
He received an Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and, in 2021, was named to the Out 100. He has been a guest on many radio shows and podcasts, including Loveline and Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast. He has spoken on panels at SXSW, The International AIDS Conference, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and others. His second book will come out in 2025.
As a contributing editor at The Advocate, Cheves launched the “Sexy Beast” column for Advocate.com in 2016. To date, it has generated the site's best traffic on record. He now writes the "Last Call" column in print editions of Out Magazine. His bylines include VICE, Them, Document Journal, Out Traveler, and more.
Originally from the American South, he now lives in Berlin and is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.
Alexander Cheves is a memoirist, sex columnist for Out Magazine, and author of My Love Is a Beast: Confessions from Unbound Edition Press, which won the 2022 Geoff Mains Nonfiction Award from NLA International.
He received an Excellence in Journalism Award from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and, in 2021, was named to the Out 100. He has been a guest on many radio shows and podcasts, including Loveline and Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast. He has spoken on panels at SXSW, The International AIDS Conference, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and others. His second book will come out in 2025.
As a contributing editor at The Advocate, Cheves launched the “Sexy Beast” column for Advocate.com in 2016. To date, it has generated the site's best traffic on record. He now writes the "Last Call" column in print editions of Out Magazine. His bylines include VICE, Them, Document Journal, Out Traveler, and more.
Originally from the American South, he now lives in Berlin and is a member of the Berlin Queer Writers Circle.