‘I used to think being gay was the worst thing that could happen to me - now I see it as a privilege'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

As the Manchester Pride parade made its way through the city centre some seven years ago, one of the people in attendance amongst the sea of floats, dancers, ambassadors and members of the LGBTQ+ community could barely believe what was happening.

For author and journalist Matt Cain, who was 42 at the time, it was the first time he had felt like he could truly be himself in Greater Manchester - all whilst holding his husband’s hand and waving a Pride flag at the hundreds of people who had lined the streets for the annual celebration. “There’s really nothing more emotionally intense and joyous than that,” Matt, now 49, tells the M.E.N. “There is something truly special about coming back to your home city, and walking through the streets which are lined with crowds of people cheering you on with Pride flags.

It was a very big moment.” Try MEN Premium now for FREE...just click here to give it a go. Today, Matt, who was brought up in Bolton, is one of the country’s most recognised LGBTQ+ authors - having penned books including The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, Becoming Ted and The Madonna of Bolton over the years.

But feeling proud of who he is, and inspiring others to feel proud of themselves, hasn’t always been an easy journey for him. “People were calling me queer before I even knew what being gay was,” Matt, who went to school in Bury and attended sixth form in Whitefield, says of being bullied as a child for being ‘obviously gay’. “When I was growing up, it was at the height of the AIDS crisis.