#HappyPride!

July 1, 2019

That was the phrase one kept hearing downtown as marchers and onlookers swapped high fives. Yesterday the massive NYC Pride March commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall ‘riots’ of June 1969 took over Chelsea and the Village. The atmosphere was peak NYC – a joyful combination of the Village Halloween Parade, New Year’s Eve in Times Square, UN General Assembly Week, and the 4th of July all rolled into one…and multiplied times a thousand or so. It would not be surprising if the crowd estimate tops a million. It was packed.

The March capped a month long celebration of World Pride here that included scores of events and venues. People came from all over and the ‘world’ part was amply repped by groups from the Pacific Islands, Russia, Ireland, the Caribbean, and any other country/region you can think of. Among organizations participating this year: FDNY, NYPD, the Coast Guard, and the FBI. Many big companies also launched floats sporting bands or dj’s to add to the festivities. While most of this may strike an under-thirty observer as pretty unremarkable, the changes since Stonewall in 1969 have been significant. In those days merely dressing in drag was illegal and gay bars were regularly raided and shaken down by vice cops. Gays were explicitly unwelcome in the public organizations named above, and in many others in the private sector. Hatred and discrimination were what was ‘out’ back then.

The struggle for respect and equality before the law and in the eyes of our fellow human beings continues and there’s clearly pressure from the reactionary Right to undo the progress that’s been made. But looking at the young ‘uns yesterday and seeing how happy and comfortable they were in their own skin was the best tribute to Stonewall 50 years on. Happy Pride, everyone.