Second cities like middle children often find themselves in the shadows of their bigger, older siblings. Some, like Chicago, embrace the Second City moniker, while others like Manchester, England, work to define themselves apart from their larger sister.

For years, Manchester has been well-known as a breeding ground for boundary-pushing musical pioneers (think Morrissey, the Smiths, the Bee Gees, the Hollies, Herman's Hermits, 10cc, Tony Wilson and Factory Records, the Hacienda, Mick Hucknall, Simply Red, Joy Division, New Order, Oasis) - and yet, equally important if perhaps lesser known, Manchester has been at the vanguard in the fight for LGBT equality.

Take, for example, Manchester's Lesbian and Gay Heritage Trail, a series of rainbow tiles set into the pavement at various historic points around the city. Originated during Manchester's hosting of Europride in 2003, the Lesbian and Gay Heritage Trail has become one of the city's more popular tours, incorporating a rainbow cast of Mancunian folk from Quentin Crisp, Noel Coward, Albert Kennedy, and Edward Carpenter. The United Kingdom's only permanent HIV/AIDS memorial, the "Beacon of Hope," resides in a quiet corner of Sackville Gardens, near the Alan Turing Memorial, making Manchester one of the few cities worldwide to make LGBT history an ongoing part of its cityscape.

By now, thanks to the television series, Queer as Folk, and its near-global conquest, most everyone knows that LGBT life in Manchester centers around what's known as the Gay Village, a series of cobblestoned thoroughfares around Canal Street. But what the world might not yet realize is that during Manchester Pride, the Gay Village becomes the nucleus for all things celebratory and gay.

For the nearly ten days and nights of Manchester Pride, the Gay Village becomes a veritable amusement park, with manned gates and entrances (and security forces, a necessary precaution since Manchester's terrorist bombing in 1996). All attendees are required to buy a wristband for approximately $25, which must be retained for the duration of the festival, and which enables Manchester Pride to donate the net proceeds to local service organizations. Since its inception twenty years ago, Manchester Pride has raised more than one million dollars for LGBT and HIV charities across Greater Manchester.

One of the final Pride celebrations of the global calendar year, Manchester Pride's Big Weekend occurs during the annual August bank holiday, with Saturday afternoon's Pride Parade, which remains the city's largest, as the centerpiece. More than one hundred floats and marching contingents cheered their way through the city's center, including the stars of United Kingdom's longest-running and most-watched soap opera, Coronation Street, this year celebrating its 50th year of filming in Manchester.

The official Grand Marshall for the 20th annual Manchester Pride Parade was Sir Ian McKellen (also known throughout Pride as Serena McKellen) - and certainly there are few more beloved individuals than the man behind Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. While Sir Ian was provided with a car and driver, he was far more comfortable walking the Parade route, the better to hug and kiss his many fans who ranged in age from six to one-hundred-and-six. And when Sir Ian wasn't posing for photos, he worked a rainbow-colored feather boa atop his sleek white duster or waved the rainbow flag to cacophonous cheers from the adoring crowd.

Winner of "Best Pride Event" in the UK for the past four years, as well as a recent nominee for "World's Best Pride" award, Manchester Pride hosted over forty events at more than twenty different venues with headliners such as Kelis, Chicane, Belinda Carlisle, Heaven 17, and Beverley Knight. And while the crowds swelled the Gay Village to capacity for Kelis and her radio-friendly songs, Kelis's American diva demands were in direct contrast to a town known for a mellow and friendly vibe. In fact, the true headliner of Manchester Pride was the lesser-known Beverley Knight, a sultry songstress whose warmth and sincerity embodied the spirit of a city that has long understood the value of community and camaraderie in the pursuit of civil rights.

For many Mancunians, the raison d’être of Manchester Pride occurs on Monday evening, the final night of Pride, at Sackville Gardens, the picturesque locale for the HIV Candlelit Vigil. There, beneath the trees, amidst the garden, and alongside the life-size bronze memorial statue to Alan Turing, the eminent mathematician and father of computer science, who was persecuted and prosecuted for his homosexuality, thousands of people gather for a contemplative celebration of those who have died. This year's celebration was also the 25th anniversary of George House Trust, Manchester's largest and oldest service organization for those living with HIV - and while there were fireworks and song and cheers and declamations, it was the sight of thousands of candles, each one held high, that spoke the loudest.

"Each year we go above and beyond to ensure Manchester Pride is bigger and better whilst remaining true to our roots as a fundraiser for local LGBT and HIV charities," said Jackie Crozier, festival director of Manchester Pride. "And the fact that people travel across the country and even the world to attend really means everything to us." This year's event brought scores of Americans, thanks in part to the direct, non-stop flights from New York to Manchester that American Airlines recently initiated. Leaving from the new American Airlines terminal at JFK, American Airlines makes it easier than ever to enjoy a red-eye flight across the pond (and particularly if you avail yourself of an Admirals Club day pass and feast on the pasta bar before the flight - whereupon sleep is guaranteed).

One of the true joys of Manchester Pride is the outpouring of support from the city at large throughout the ten-day festival. With a parade route lined with the full spectrum of humanity, from children to grandparents, all cheering and waving and singing along to gay anthems while waving rainbow flags, Manchester Pride reflects an almost utopian democracy. Or as one sign put it "Keep Calm and Carry On." An homage to the spirit of the British during the Second World War, the message serves anew in the march toward full LGBT equality.