Parades and protests mark 50 years of LGBTQ pride
NEW YORK — Crowds gathered outside New York’s historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday to celebrate five decades of LGBTQ pride, marking the 50th anniversary of the police raid that sparked the modern-day gay rights movement. Other cities throughout the country held parades.
More than 2,000 people gathered outside the bar where patrons resisted the famous June 28, 1969, police raid. Thousands also turned out for a larger parade that packed Fifth Avenue, where rainbows were on display across everything from flags to T-shirts.
“I think that we should be able to say we’ve been here for so long, and so many people are gay that everybody should be able to have the chance to enjoy their lives and be who they are,” said Eraina Clay, 63, of suburban New Rochelle. “I have a family. I raised kids. I’m just like everybody else.”
Alyssa Christianson, 29, of New York City, was wearing just sparkly pasties and boy shorts underwear. A Pride flag was tied around her neck like a cape.
“I’ve been to the Pride parade before, but this is the first year I kind of wanted to dress up and get into it,” she said.
At the Queer Liberation March near the Stonewall Inn, some participants said the larger Pride parade had become too commercialized and heavily policed.
“What’s important to remember is that this is a protest against the monetization of the Pride parade, against the police brutality of our community, against the poor treatment of sections of our community, of black and brown folk, of immigrants,” said Jake Seller, a 24year-old Indiana native who now lives in Brooklyn and worked as one of the march’s volunteers.
Protesters carried anti-Trump and queer liberation signs, chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!”
Other attendees focused on the progress that’s been made within the LGBTQ community over the last few decades.
“We’ve come so far in the past 20 years,” said 55-year-old Gary Piper, who came from Kansas to celebrate Pride with his partner. “I remember friends who would be snatched off the streets in Texas for dressing in drag. They’d have to worry about being persecuted for their identity.”
The police presence at the march was heavy, with several officers posted at every corner.
The Pride march concludes a month of Stonewall commemorations in New York that included rallies, parties, film showings and a human rights conference. The celebration coincides with World-Pride, an international LGBTQ event.