With all the controversy surrounding Pride funding at the moment – and I really hope Pride continues as it’s as synonymous with Brighton as a stick of rock– it can be easy to forget quite how far we have come in terms of LGBT rights. Whilst true that in Brighton people are still treated with prejudice, threatened with violence and treated as second rate citizens because of their sexual orientation, at least it’s supposed to be illegal. In some areas of Europe, they don’t even have those rights.

That’s why I’m particularly delighted that the EU has today adopted a resolution which means that if you have a partnership in one EU state, it has to be recognised as legal in another. The resolution also takes sorely needed steps against hate violence and against discrimination based on sexual orientation. It stops short at fully recognising same sex unions, which is still a fundamental denial of equality. Despite that, today’s resolution is a vital step in the right direction, sending out the clear message that the rights of the LGBT community matter just as much as the rest – and not just on Pride.