JUNE marks the official beginning of Pride celebrations in many places around the world, coinciding with the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City.
Pride Month is not only a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community but a movement for their equal rights.
People can be actively involved in the month whether they are part of the LGBTQ+ community or just consider themselves an ally.
Over the month, many big citites will make headlines with their celebrations but many charities and group get involved in Cumbria to show that this is not just something for big cities but also for rural areas and the small towns too.
We spoke with some local charities to ask them about the work they do for LGBTQ+ people, including Pride in North Cumbria (PiNC).
Pride in North Cumbria provides support services and a safe social group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and other people; aged between 13 and 25 years. They run drop-in sessions, run workshops, get involved in events, run a Discord chat for out of hours support.
Whilst the support the charity offers runs constantly, they are running a museum culture exhibition at Tribe, Bitts Park in June and are supporting a museum of youth cultural to commemorate Pride.
There are also plans for 'Pride in the Centre' which will include food and cake stalls, and it is an opportunity to become educated on the history of pride.
They have recently hosted book festivals, mental health projects, the cafe project and an around the world project which explores foods around the world, and looks at each countries LGBTQ+ attitudes.
Pam Eland who works at PiNC said: "People are still persecuted for their identity. There is a lot to be learnt about transgender and other LGBTQ people still.
"There is a lot of homophobia in our streets, online and in school still.
"It is also difficult to report hate crime. We need to introduce more things into schools to teach people about this and give a voice to others."
The charity gives special thanks to those who help fund the charity such as Cumbria Community Foundation Trust, National Lottery Fund, Rag Doll Fund and Cumbria County Council.
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