It seemed everyone from politicians including Hilary Clinton, to the cast members from shows like Orange Is The New Black were in attendance. For miles and miles I walked just taking in all the excitement, love, compassion, and enjoyment that filled the streets of New York as people cheered and waved their rainbow flags.Īs you can see, there were definitely a lot of unexpected sights, costumes, and other amusing treats along my journey including g-string, pink unicorn horned people, bejeweled dogs, and naked glitter covered bubble blowers. Although is was a bright sunny day and everyone was sweating buckets, no one seemed phased. As the parade went on, I spent most of my time documenting the people attending while walking down 5th ave. The parade began at 36th and 5th Ave which is where I started. Being the biggest pride parade in NYC history, it was amazing to say the least. “This year will be happy too, but its also got some sadness.While I was in New York City for Yeshna and Abhinav’s proposal and engagement session I was able to attend the annual New York City Pride Parade 2016. “Last year was just happy, happy, happy,” Taylor said while she waited for her wife and friends in front of the Stonewall Inn. Debbie Taylor, 56, an educator, was able to marry her partner of 10 years, Dody Boyer, 53. Last year’s march came just two days after the historic supreme court decision on marriage equality. “But even if he hadn’t officially made it, it’s been historic for years.” “It was historic,” said BJ, 65, a schoolteacher from New Jersey, of the president’s designation. This week, Barack Obama declared the area around the Stonewall Inn a national monument.
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The celebration has been held every year since. Lopez-Maldonado noted the stark contrast to how things were when the Pride began, after the Stonewall Riots of 1969 in which members of the LGBT community fought back against police raids. There was a strong police presence, with officers guarding subway entrances and the metal barricades which contained the crowds. “I don’t want to say I was flooded in fear but I did think about possibilities,” Lopez-Maldonado said, adding that he decided to attend to express his support for the victims of Orlando. Last week, both the Senate and the House of Representatives failed to come to a consensus on the subject, despite a 15-hour Senate filibuster led by Connecticut senator Chris Murphy and a 25-hour House sit in led by the civil rights leader John Lewis.īefore the march, De Blasio issued emphatic statements on security at the parade. One group carried a giant rainbow banner which read: “Republican hate kills”.Īs Senator Charles Schumer of New York walked down Fifth Avenue, a few in the crowd began shouting “pass gun control”. Marchers and spectators held signs reading “Gays against guns”. Photograph: Nicole Puglise/the Guardianįrustration over congressional inaction on gun control reform since the Orlando attack was evident. Marchers carry a banner reading ‘Republican hate kills’. “It’s all fun and games and rainbow flags, but there are still people dying,” she said in reference to the attack in Orlando on 12 June, which killed 49 and wounded 53.
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More were expected this year.įor Marian Holmes, 24, a business owner from Long Island, Pride 2016 was still a celebration, but it also had a more serious tone. Last year’s event had an estimated 2.5 million attendees, march director Julian Sanjivan told AMNY. It was Gonzalez and Lopez-Maldonado’s first Pride.
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His co-worker, Giselle Gonzalez, 18, said voting is important and ignoring a candidate you did not agree with would not make them go away. I would be kicked out, even if I was born here and I had degrees.” Whatever we are, we will not have support. “That’s really hard to think about … if Trump wins, we’re gone. Members of her campaign staff walked separately, wearing shirts that read: “ Love trumps hate”.įor Luis Lopez-Maldonado, 31, an intern in the city, the presidential election was especially concerning for the LGBT community. So was the impending presidential election.Ĭlinton, who walked with New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Reverend Al Sharpton and others, was one of an estimated 32,000 marchers to take part in the parade. The recent mass shooting in an LGBT nightclub in Orlando, the worst in US history, was on most minds. This was not Clinton’s first New York Pride, but while the march was filled with its usual positivity, color and dancing, politics permeated the event. As Clinton passed the corner of Christopher Street and Bleeker, another announcer asked the crowd to “make some noise if you’re voting for Secretary Clinton”.