NEW YORK — Celebrations mixed with demonstrations of resistance on Sunday, as LGBTQ+ pride parades filled the streets in some of the country’s largest cities and hosted annual events that were part party, part protest.
In New York, thousands marched cheering and waving rainbow flags down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to Greenwich Village to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riot, when a police raid on a gay bar sparked days of protests and started a movement for LGBTQ+ rights shouted.
While some cheered jubilantly, many were aware of the growing conservative backlash to restricting rights, including by banning gender-specific childcare for transgender children.
“I’m not trying not to be too political, but when it’s actually about my community, I’m very, very upset and very hurt,” said Ve Cinder, a 22-year-old transgender woman who traveled from Pennsylvania to celebrate the cause Attend the country’s largest Pride event.
“I’m just scared for my future and for my trans siblings. I’m afraid of how this country judges human rights, basic human rights,” she said. “It’s crazy.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law into law to protect and empower the LGBTQ+ community in advance of her participation in the Pride March in New York on Sunday. Hochul signed what her office called groundbreaking new legislation that will make New York a “safe haven” for the trans community by ensuring New York protects trans youth, their parents and their doctors, as well as a another law protecting their right to addiction treatment and rehabilitation.
The governor also signed three new laws updating New York’s legal documents to remove outdated and stigmatizing terminology.
“As the birthplace of the modern movement for LGBTQ+ rights, New York prides itself on protecting, defending and empowering our LGBTQ+ community,” said Hochul. “From Stonewall to Marriage Equality to GENDA, New Yorkers have been at the forefront of the fight for equality. Now that other states are targeting LGBTQ+ people with bigotry and scaremongering, New York is fighting back.”
Parades in New York, Chicago and San Francisco were among the events hosted by some 400 Pride organizations across the US this year, with many focusing specifically on transgender people’s rights.
In Chicago, 16-year-old Maisy McDonough painted rainbow colors over her eyes and on her face at her first ever Pride march.
She told the Chicago Tribune she’s excited to be “united” after a tough year for the community.
“We really need the love for this parade,” she said.
Entertainers and activists, drag performers and transgender advocates are among the parade grand marshals declaring a message of unity as several US states enact new laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community.
“The platform will be raised and we will see communities across the country show their unity and solidarity through these events,” said Ron deHarte, co-president of the US Association of Prides.
Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and Seattle are scheduled to hold Pride parades on Sunday. More than 100 groups are expected to attend the parade in Toronto, Canada. In New York City, seven-time Grammy winner Christina Aguilera will headline a post-March concert in Brooklyn.
The annual observations have spread to other cities and are now also accessible to bisexual, transgender and queer people and other groups.
About a decade ago, when her 13-year-old child first wanted to be called a boy, Roz Gould sought Keith’s help. She found little to help her family navigate the transition. They attended a Pride march in the Detroit area, but saw few transgender representatives.
This year, she is heartened by the increased visibility of transgender people at marches and celebrations across the country this month.
“Ten years ago, when my son asked to go to Motor City Pride, there was nothing for the transgender community,” said Keith, founder and executive director of Stand with Trans, a group created to serve young transgender people and to support and strengthen their families.
This year, she said, the event was “packed” with transgender people.
One of the great marshals of the New York City parade is non-binary activist AC Dumlao, chief of staff for Athlete Ally, a group that advocates for LGBTQ+ athletes.
“Promoting the trans community has always been at the core of our events and programs,” said Dan Dimant, a spokesperson for NYC Pride.
Many of this year’s parades called on LGBTQ+ communities to unite against dozens, if not hundreds, of bills currently under deliberation in state houses across the country.
Lawmakers in 20 states have decided to ban gender-based childcare and at least seven others are considering doing the same, adding urgency to the transgender community, their advocates say.
“We are under threat,” organizers of Pride events in New York, San Francisco and San Diego said in a statement, which was joined by about 50 other Pride organizations across the country. “The multiple dangers we face as the LGBTQ community and Pride organizers, while varying in nature and intensity, share a common trait: they are aimed at protecting our love, our identity, our freedom, our security and our undermining life.”
Some parades, including the Chicago event, were scheduled for heightened security in light of the unrest.
The Anti-Defamation League and GLAAD, a national LGBTQ+ organization, identified 101 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in the first three weeks of this month, about double the number for the entire month of June last year.
Sarah Moore, who analyzes extremism for the two civil rights groups, said many of the June incidents coincided with Pride events.
