The man responsible for New York’s week-long “event series”, as he puts it, is Chris Frederick, a friendly, articulate 33-year-old with a background in events management. This year, NYC Pride included not only the march for which the movement is famous - during which two million spectators line the streets of Manhattan to cheer the passing floats of big brands and non-profit organisations - but also the party on the pier (a woman’s event called Teaze), a VIP rooftop party and, at the start of the week, a Pride Luminaries Brunch, a $50-a-ticket event serving canapés including cubes of French toast and pieces of bacon, held in clothes pegs suspended along a string. InterPride, which represents Pride organisers around the world, estimates that New York’s is one of the three biggest such events, along with those in Madrid, held each July, and São Paulo in May. “Gay Christmas”, more formally known as Pride, is held in New York every June. The Pride march along Fifth Avenue, New York, June 2016 © Daniel Shea/Webber Represents The pink paraphernalia that surrounds it bears the slogan: “Mobilize for equality.” Next door, at T-Mobile, tired partygoers relax on white pouffes under the watch of a fuchsia unicorn. The pier is lined with promotional marquees: in a Delta Air Lines tent stamped with the tagline “Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries”, couples are invited to sit for digital caricatures sketched by artists on iPads outside, a flight attendant in uniform pushes a trolley through the crowd dispensing flashing party wristbands. The shout, emitted by a girl in knee-length rainbow socks and matching headband, is swiftly drowned out - first by the growl of Beyoncé’s “Formation” blaring through an enormous festival-style sound system second, by the collective whoop of the thousands of women assembled beneath it. Pridefest will include a wide array of street vendors and live performances and the event will conclude tonight with Dance on the Pier, a dance party headlined by Demi Lovato.ĭid you attend this year's NYC Pride 2014 parade, or any other Pride Parade? Tell us about your experiences in the Comments.One June evening, on a broad pier jutting out into the Hudson river from the west side of Manhattan, New York, three words hang briefly in the sticky summer air: “Merry gay Christmas!”
In addition to the parade, NYC Pride plans to continue week-long celebration with events through Sunday.
#GAY PRIDE NYC PARADE 2014 PLUS#
The decision paved the way for gay couples to legally marry in California since the decision, seven other states have come on board with gay marriage, bringing the total to 19, plus the District of Columbia. The riots escalated and continued over the next two days, eventually resulting in over a thousand protesters, and five arrests.Īlso celebrated in today's NYC Pride Parade was the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the Defense of Marriage Act. When a woman was forcibly thrown to the ground by police, a riot ensued. As the police struggled to bring more vehicles on the scene to transport the would-be arrestees, a crowd began to gather outside the inn. The 200 patrons and employees present that morning refused to cooperate. However, at Stonewall, they'd had enough. At the time, patrons and employees of gay bars were used to the raids and considered them a part of life. Men in drag would be arrested, as would women who were deemed to not be dressed feminine enough. At the time, police raids of gay bars were common. The focal point of this year's event was the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, considered by many to be the beginning of the Gay Rights movement in the United States.Įarly in the morning of June 29th, 1969, police officers arrived at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York. In the #prideParade today with #DoloresNettles mother of Islan Nettles.
#GAY PRIDE NYC PARADE 2014 SERIES#
Laverne Cox is a transgender woman who portrays Sophia Burset - also a transgender woman - on the critically-acclaimed Netflix series Orange is the New Black. Three prominent members of the LGBTQ community had the honor of serving as co-grand marshalls of the parade. And in a cooperative effort between Google, Youtube, Mashable, and the parade organizers, the event was streamed live on the internet. The NYC Pride Parade kicked off at noon Eastern Time today, celebrating the LGBTQ movement's victories in the past, and looking toward obstacles yet to overcome.