Thousands of supporters of Northern Ireland's LGBT community took to the streets of Belfast on Saturday in Pride celebrations buoyed by the promise that same-sex marriage could soon be legal.
An armoured police vehicle was decked out in rainbow colours and rainbow flags peppered the crowd, while a sound system blared out hit anthem "It's Raining Men" in defiance of the summer showers.
Leo Varadkar, prime minister of the Republic of Ireland to the south, joined the parade, which was filled with fancy-dress and families, chants of "trans rights are human rights" and "up the queers".
The rainbow flag was raised over Belfast city hall for the first time in its history to hail the start of celebrations, a move described as "hugely significant" by mayor John Finucane.
The event comes just weeks after the British parliament voted to extend same-sex marriage and abortion rights to Northern Ireland, which lags behind the rest of the country on equality issues.
The law would be changed unless the devolved government in Belfast, which has been suspended since January 2017, is reinstated by October 21.
"Everybody's entitled to the same rights, so here's hoping, yes, that it goes through," said Mary Francis White, a 53-year-old social care worker whose son is an openly gay Belfast councillor.
"And if it does go through, 100 per cent absolutely there'll be a big, huge party."