People wrote homophobic comments about Manchester Pride - the local paper destroyed them

The city of Manchester recently celebrated Gay Pride.

Thousands attended the city’s 25^th annual pride festival, and they were treated to performances from former spice girl Mel C, Pixie Lott, and Take That.

Manchester's new Metro Mayor Andy Burnham also attended:

And the day looked a little like this:

And this:

And this:

But when Manchester Evening News reported on the events, it got some negative comments.

And it decided to speak out in a passionate backlash against haters.

On Facebook, the news outlet wrote:

Quite remarkable how many negative comments we have to remove or hide on stories like this.

To those asking when is 'straight pride day' or questioning why we still have Pride we'd ask this: Did you know that homosexuality is punishable by death in 12 countries? Celebrating Pride in those places can literally get you killed.

Did you know there's been a recent rise in homophobic hate crimes? Did you know that in Britain homophobic attacks rose by 147 per cent in three months from June last year.

 Did you know nearly half of all trans children in this country have attempted suicide? Or that 80 per cent have self-harmed? Did you know it's only been 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK?

This is why we still have Pride marches. And Manchester's is the best in the world.

And people were quick to congratulate MEN and support the message:

More: The 16 best photos from Pride in London