Pride parades continue the urgency, across the US

Pride parades continue the urgency, across the US

Web Desk
June 26, 2022

Pride parades continue the urgency, across the US

Parades commemorating LGBTQ pride begin in some of America’s largest cities on Sunday.
The annual marches in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and other cities take place just two days.
It is after a conservative Supreme Court justice hinted that court could revisit the 2015 recognition of the right to same-sex marriage in a decision on abortion.

In the midst of fresh worries about the potential erosion of freedoms won through decades of activism, parades commemorating LGBTQ pride begin in some of America’s largest cities on Sunday.

The annual marches in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and other cities take place just two days after a conservative Supreme Court justice hinted that the court could revisit the 2015 recognition of the right to same-sex marriage in a decision on abortion.

After a year of legislative setbacks for the LGBTQ community, including the adoption of legislation in several states restricting the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity with young people, that warning shot came.

Some are calling for pride parades to go back to their roots, which would entail fewer block-long street celebrations and more blatantly civil rights marches, as anti-gay attitudes reappear.

Sean Clarkin, 67, who was recently enjoying a drink at Julius’s, one of the oldest gay pubs in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, said of New York City’s yearly parade, “It has gone from being a statement of advocacy and protest to being much more of a celebration of gay life.”

He recalls that the march used to be about rebellion and fighting against a mainstream that oppressed gays, lesbians, and transgender people and considered them as undesirable outcasts.

A number of places have regulations in place that forbid transgender athletes from taking part in team sports that correspond with the gender they identify with.

Members of LGBTQ communities were more likely than any other group to encounter harassment, according to a poll conducted by the Anti-Defamation League and released earlier this week. More over half of respondents (almost two-thirds) who claimed to have experienced harassment said it was motivated by their sexual orientation.

Recent divisions over how to remember Stonewall have given rise to separate organizations and protest-focused events.

The Queer Liberation March, which bills itself as the “antidote to the corporate-infused, police-entangled, politician-heavy Parades that presently dominate Pride celebrations,” takes place in New York City concurrently with the conventional march.

Although many supporters of the marches regard them as a combination of activism and celebration, more of that attitude may permeate this year’s main parades.

The marches, according to 40-year-old New Yorker Vincent Maniscalco, who has been married to his partner for five years, are a chance to raise awareness of civil rights concerns as well as to bring people from all walks of life together to celebrate who they truly are. And I believe that is something that the New York City Pride Parade excels at.