NEW YORK (AP) – The annual New York City Pride Parade began Sunday with bright confetti, animated crowds, rainbow flags and new fears of losing the freedoms gained over decades of activism.
The annual marches in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and elsewhere take place just two days after a conservative Supreme Court judge noted, in an abortion ruling, that the court should reconsider the right to marriage between people. of the same sex recognized in 2015..
“We’re here to make a statement,” said Mercedes Sharpe, 31, who traveled to Manhattan from Massachusetts. “I think it’s about making a point, more than every other year as we normally celebrate. This one will really stand out. I think a lot of people are angry, not even women, angry men, angry women. ”
Thousands of people (many dressed in colors of pride) lined the parade route through Manhattan, cheering as floats and protesters passed by.
The nation’s top court warning came after a year of legislative defeats for the LGBTQ community, including passing laws in some states that limit discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity with the kids.
As anti-gay sentiments resurface, some are pushing for pride parades to return to their roots: fewer island street parties, more openly civil rights marches.
“It has gone from being a statement of defense and protest to being much more a celebration of gay life,” Sean Clarkin, 67, said of the annual New York City parade while enjoying a drink recently at the Julius’s, one of the oldest gay bars. at Greenwich Village in Manhattan.
As you remember things, the parade was once about the challenge and pressure against an oppressive mainstream that saw gays, lesbians, and transgender people as unworthy outsiders.
“As satisfying and empowering as it is to be accepted by the mainstream,” Clarkin said, “there was also something energetic and wonderful about being on the outside looking inward.”
The first New York Pride March, then called Christopher Street Liberation Day March, was held in 1970 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, a spontaneous street uprising sparked by a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan.
The first march in San Francisco was in 1972 and has since been held every year, except during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The celebrations are now global, taking place year-round in several countries, with many of the biggest parades taking place in June. One of the largest in the world, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was held on June 19th.
In the United States, this year’s celebrations are taking place amid a possible crisis.
In a Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to abortion, Judge Clarence Thomas said in a concurring opinion that the court should also reconsider its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage and a 2003 decision that overturned laws criminalizing gay sex.
“The recent cancellation of Roe v. Wade has caused a great stir for what happened. Then other rights could be involved,” said Dean Jigarjian, 22, who crossed the river from New Jersey with his girlfriend to take part in the New York City fashion show.
More than a dozen states have recently enacted laws that go against the interests of LGBTQ communities, including a law that prohibits any mention of sexual orientation in school curricula in Florida and threats of prosecution for parents that allow their children receive gender care in Texas. .
Several states have enacted laws that prohibit transgender athletes from participating in team sports that match the gender in which they identify.
According to an Anti-Defamation League poll released earlier this week, members of LGBTQ communities were more likely than any other group to suffer harassment. Two-thirds of respondents said they had been harassed, just over half of whom said the harassment was a consequence of their sexual orientation.
In recent years, schisms have opened up about how to commemorate Stonewall, leading to splinter group events aimed at being more protest-oriented.
In New York City, the Queer Liberation March takes place at the same time as the traditional parade, and self-proclaims itself as the “antidote to corporate parades, congested by police and laden with politicians who now dominate the celebrations of the ‘Pride’.
More of that spirit could be undone at this year’s major parades, though many fans of the marches see them as a combination of activism and celebration.
New Yorker Vincent Maniscalco, 40, who has been married to her husband for five years, said he thought the marches were an opportunity both to highlight civil rights issues and to bring together “individuals from all walks of life. life to celebrate his true self. ” And I think the New York City Pride Parade does a great job. “