U.S. Pride parades protest president
Events spotlight resistance amid fears Trump agenda will threaten gay rights
NEW YORK— Thousands of people lined U.S. streets for gay pride parades Sunday in coast-to-coast events that took both celebratory and political tones, the latter a reaction to what some see as new threats to gay rights in the Trump era.
In a year when leaders are anxious about the president’s agenda, parade organizers in New York and San Francisco were more focused on protest. In New York, for instance, grand marshals from the American Civil Liberties Union were chosen to re- present a “resistance movement.”
Activists have been galled by the Trump administration’s rollback of federal guidance advising school districts to let transgender students use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. The Republican president also broke from Democratic predecessor Barack Obama’s practice of issuing a proclamation in honour of Pride Month.
At the jam-packed New York City parade, a few attendees wore “Make America Gay Again” hats, while one group walking silently in the parade wore “Black Lives Matter” shirts as they held up signs with a fist and with a rainbow background, a symbol for gay pride. Still others protested potential cuts to heath care benefits, declaring that “Healthcare is an LGBT issue.”
“I am starting to feel more like I need to have the security of my culture and my people around me to feel protected and safe,” Lemon Reimer, a 20-year-old college student, said at the New York City parade.
Meanwhile, Kendall Bermudez, a 21-year-old paradegoer from New Jersey, felt empowered by the huge showing there. “I think with all these people here, they’re going to show we’re fighting back and we’re proud of who we are,” she said. “I think we’re going to overcome it and show Trump who’s boss.”
And in Chicago, 23-year-old Sarah Hecker was attending her first Pride parade, another event that attracted wall-to-wall crowds.
“I felt like this would be a way to not necessarily rebel, but just my way to show solidarity for marginalized people in trying times,” said Hecker, a marketing consultant who lives in suburban Chicago.
But the Pride celebrations also face some resistance from within the LGBTQ community itself. Some ac- tivists feel the events are centred on gay white men and unconcerned with issues that matter particularly to minorities in the movement, such as economic inequality and policing.
In some cities, there were scattered counter protests, a small group in New York urging paradegoers to “repent for their sins.” But most of those attending were unified in celebration and in standing up against a presidential administration they find unsupportive.
“This year, especially, it’s a bit of a different atmosphere,” said Grace Cook, a 17-year-old from suburban Chicago who noted the more political tone in this year’s parade, including at least one anti-Trump float. “(Being here) feels more impactful — like something we have to do.”