A young girl walked up to a gay man and handed him the adorable letter. (Twitter/@JackRemmington)
In today’s antidote from the never-ending horrors of the year 2022, a young girl walked up to a gay man to hand him the sweetest note during Manchester Pride.
For the first time in three years, thousands of people poured into the north-western city on Saturday (27 August) in a dazzling celebration of diversity and love.
And it seems one young girl was getting into the spirit by handing out adorable envelopes to out and proud Pride-goers.
Singer Jack Remmington shared on Twitter photos of a small, polka-dot envelope taped shut with a heart-shaped rainbow sticker. Inside, it read: “You make me feel so proud, happy Pride day.”
“A little girl, she can’t have been older than about seven, just walked up to us a Manc Pride and handed me this and now I’m in bits,” Remmington tweeted.
A little girl, she can’t have been older than about 7, just walked up to us at Manc Pride and handed me this and now I’m in bits pic.twitter.com/bV0zYI0f4z
— jack rem x (@jackremmington) August 27, 2022
Remmington said he was given the envelope while marching for George House Trust, a local charity that supports people living with HIV.
Considering the bleakness of living in 2022 today, from how trans people are under near-constant attack to surging bills, the wholesomeness of the girl’s message drew tugged at hundreds of users’ heartstrings.
I feel proper fragile from last night anyway so this has sent me under
— jack rem x (@jackremmington) August 27, 2022
How gorgeous, happy #PrideManchester 🏳️🌈 🐝 https://t.co/p2fzL4Wu8T
— Councillor Charlotte Martin (@cllrcharlottem) August 27, 2022
my heart is smushed https://t.co/HDd2OJBJ0u
— emily (@wileysprings) August 27, 2022
i’m crying. this is so joyful 🥲 https://t.co/iD0bJlPRwT
— Cambell ♡ (@Cambellxo) August 27, 2022
Those taking part in the Manchester Pride march ranged from It’s a Sin screenwriter Russel T Davies to the famous Wickes van which has single-handedly done more for LGBTQ+ rights than the Conservative government has in the last decade.
And many had their reasons to come out in full force. LGBTQ+ progress in the UK has been in steep decline for years, according to a monitoring group that makes an annual assessment of European countries’ equality laws and social tolerance.
The UK once topped ILGA-Europe’s “Rainbow Map” but has since plummeted from first place in 2014 to 14th in 2022.
ILGA-Europe pointed to the government’s refusals to reform gender recognition law and ban conversion therapy for trans people as among the many reasons why progress has slowed.
The equalities watchdog, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), was also accused by ILGA-Europe of failing to protect the community. EHRC has increasingly faced criticism of transphobia, from the guidance it has issued to the controversial opinions of its bosses that prompted some ECHR staffers to quit.