LIVERPOOL staged the city’s biggest-ever annual Pride celebration on Saturday, with an estimated 50,000 people taking to the streets.

Trade union banners were raised including those of rail union RMT, the National Education Union, public-sector union Unison and Civil Service workers’ union PCS.

One group of marchers took a collection for striking RMT rail workers who were on the picket line at Liverpool Lime Street station on Saturday morning in their continuing 18-month battle over job security, working conditions and pay.

Some placards welcomed the removal of Barclay’s Bank as event sponsor because of its involvement in fossil fuel industries.

The celebration was also a commemoration of Liverpool drag artist and campaigner Paul O’Grady who died recently.

Uniformed police took part in the march from St George’s Hall through the city to the Pier Head.

Pride activists from Kiev in Ukraine were among marchers. Liverpool played host to Kiev’s Pride march, with the city having also hosted this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine’s capital because of the war there.

The theme of the event was “Shout It Loud” as a reminder of the first ever Pride marches “where standing up and shouting loud for our rights were so important,” said organisers.

Andi Herring, chief executive officer and co-founder of Liverpool City Region Pride Foundation, said: “The lives of the LGBT+ community have been under intense scrutiny over the past few years, across the globe, from attacks on drag queens and the proposed criminalisation of their livelihoods, to the constant and steady erosion of trans rights perpetuated by governments, media and other organisations.”