Written and photographed by Erica Gonzales
On Sunday, June 30, New York City held its 44th annual Pride March, honoring gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders and Questioning, in a day-long celebration that raged down Fifth Avenue. Rainbow flags and greetings of “Happy Pride Day!” fluttered through the air under sunny then cloudy skies that eventually did downpour, but only sprinkled on the parade.
The parade started at noon, unleashing a convoy of more than 10,000 marchers in close to 350 organizations that made their way down from 36th street to the West Village, screaming, shouting, and dancing along the way. ZTrend watched the festivities from the reviewing station at Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street, where fabulous drag queen Porshe and comedienne Jennifer McClain hosted with big hair and even bigger personalities.
A gang of motorcyclists led the procession with rippling rainbow flags at their tails, and were soon followed by Grand Marshals Harry Belafonte, Earl Fowlkes, and Edith Windsor. To honor her efforts against DOMA’s (Defense Of Marriage Act) of Proposition 8 --which was offed on June 26th-- marchers carried posters of Windsor’s face and signs that read “Thank You Edie!”
Over 60 fringed-out floats from companies such as New York Life, Citi Bank, and the parade’s main sponsor, Diet Coke, cruised down Fifth Avenue blasting dance music and up-beat love songs. The ceremony featured a diverse lineup of international Pride groups, NYC LGTBQ organizations, NYPD, FDNY, and some original marchers of the Gay Liberation Front. An array of New York government leaders like Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Cuomo, Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, along with U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer who set an example among his fellow statesmen announcing to the crowd, “I am the first senator to march in this parade, I won’t be the last!"
While drag queens and cross dressers flaunted ornate costumes, the rest of the celebrants chose homemade outfits constructed from any multi-colored accessories they had. Some even braver attendees dyed their hair and dressed up their dogs.
Even though there were scattered showers, the 2013 Pride Parade stayed true to its slogan and turned “Rain to Rainbows” with a joyful celebration of equality and love that brought some sunshine to streets of New York.
