EDINBURGH’S Pride March broke all previous records on Saturday, with thousands of people packing into Bristo Square and being directed to a second endpoint at the Meadows.

For the first time a solitary religious objector had police protection.

Hibs Pride, a supporters’ group committed to tackling homophobia in Scottish men’s football, played a prominent role for the second time running.

Edinburgh’s march is organised by a company and not a charity, and the buy-in from commercial interests from Johnnie Walker Whiskey to Easyjet is the vector that drives its exponential expansion.

However, activists have raised concerns that there are distinct limitations imposed by this model that censor political discussion and any presentation of LGBTQ relationships beyond the policed arena of commercial image-making.