Love’ ‘Love is
Thousands fill downtown streets to celebrate LGBTQ community 50 years after Stonewall
Hundreds of thousand of people descended upon downtown Houston on Saturday to celebrate the annual Pride Festival and parade — a day to display acceptance of often marginalized groups.
The slogans displayed on posters and rainbow-themed attire reiterated those messages: “Love is love,” one hat read. “This Isn’t a Phase,” read another.
The event, expected to draw some 700,00 people, was especially poignant this year, the 50th anniversary of the now-famous Stonewall Riots in New York City that were in many ways a catalyst for the modern gay rights movement.
But five decades later, there is still much progress to be made. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, DHouston, said as much, telling the crowd: “We see you, we hear you and we love you.”
She also said that she and other lawmakers will continue to pursue policies that prevent “discrimination against anyone, anywhere, about anything.”
“When we say justice for all, we mean all,” she said.
That message was also communicated to the handful of protesters who stood on the street corners with megaphones, accusing the crowd of dabbling in satanism and condemning them to eternal hellfire. Their remarks were met with eyerolls by passersby, or were drowned out by chants such as “love not hate.”
Nearby, 17-year-old Dez Jordan wandered through the crowds that had packed the street hours before the parade was set to begin.
A gay and trans teenager from Arkansas, Jordan said Saturday helped remind her that she is not alone. Though acceptance of the gay community has progressed over the years, Jordan said trans people are still often to be open pub
licly, fears that have been compounded by continued violence and murder of trans Americans.
Pride and other events give her a chance to celebrate who she is, and allow her to speak openly outside the online communities and support groups that she said have been her main forum for acceptance.
“It’s really hard to find communities outside of online,” she said. This matters. It really does matter. Seeing people just be themselves, or older people walking around with flags — it means a lot.”
Douglas Benedetti was among those “older people.” Every June for 20 years, he’s loaded his car with flags and beads that he sells at gay pride events around the country.
The 50-year-old said that much has changed since he was in high school, when people kept quiet about being gay.
“It was kind of kept hush hush,” he said. “Nobody was running around waving a flag back then.”
But now, he said, he’s selling out of flags that celebrate bisexuality or pansexuality, and gay pride events are too numerous for him to fit each into his traveling schedule.
He loves the events he does get to attend.
“I meet a lot of cool and friendly people,” he said. “I go to these parade or events and I just leave feeling really accepted.”
Others expressed similar feelings at the event on Saturday.
Lexi DeLeon, 22, had arrived there at 9:30 a.m. for her first Pride festival after driving from her hometown of Rockport.
She was joined by her friend Jonathan Santos, a 25year-old Houston native.
The two spent the day perusing events, talking to strangers and, occasionally, catching naps in her car to avoid the heat that apparently caused multiple people to faint.
Both had wanted to show their support for the LGBTQ community, and admitted that the day provided a lot of good opportunities to “people watch” among the unique and often scantily clad crowd.
That, DeLeon said, made her feel more accepting of herself and others.
“I’m not normally one to dress like this,” she said, noting her revealing red top.
But the throngs of others wearing much less made her feel accepted. “It makes me feel comfortable with my body,” she said.
Mayor Sylvester Turner said the crowd was the largest in the history of Houston’s Pride events, and was the fourth largest in the country this year.
“I’m so proud of Houston,” he said.