Pride Across America: Celebration and Rebellion in the Face of Threat | Pride

Mixed Sunday celebrations and LGBTQ+ protests pride In some of America’s largest cities, parades filled the streets in an annual event that is part party, part protest.

In New York, thousands march down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue to Greenwich Village to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, while a police raid on a gay bar sparks days of protests and calls for LGBTQ+ rights. They waved rainbow flags and cheered to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising that launched the movement.

While some celebrated, many were aware of the growing conservative opposition to restrict rights, such as banning gender-affirming care for transgender children.

“I’m not trying to be too politicized, but I would be very annoyed if my community was targeted,” said Ve Sinder, a 22-year-old transgender woman traveling from Pennsylvania. it hurts a lot,” he said. She participates in the country’s biggest pride event.

“I’m just scared for my future and my transgender brothers. I’m scared for how this country views human rights, basic human rights,” she said. “It’s crazy.”

New York, Chicago, San Francisco is one of nearly 400 Pride organizations across the country to host this year’s events, many of which focus specifically on the rights of transgender people.

In San Francisco, the Pride event kicked off Friday with a trance march through Dolores Park to the Tenderloin.

Just before the parade on Market Street on Saturday, the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ+ Democratic Club held its 26th annual event attended by more than 600 community leaders and elected officials, including Montana Congressman Zooey Zephyr. We held a pride breakfast meeting. In April, she became a transgender member of parliament. forbidden to speak Republican politicians spoke out on the floor for the rest of the session after she said she would oppose banning gender-affirming medicine for transgender children.

The 53rd annual parade is led by the group “Dykes on Bikes” and has kicked off the celebration with a chorus of engine revs and cheers since 1976.

“It’s important for us to go out, be queer, stand out and show courage,” Kate Brown, chairman of the Dykes on Bikes board of directors, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “That’s what we do.”

Representative Adam Schiff participated in the parade alongside House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi. The parade, now in its 53rd year, is one of the country’s largest free celebrations.

“I’m thrilled to be here at a time when LGBTQ rights are under attack across the country,” Schiff told the Chronicle.

In Chicago, 16-year-old Maisie McDonough painted rainbow on her eyes and face at her first Pride Parade.

She told the Chicago Tribune that she was thrilled to be “united” after a tough year for her community.

“We really need the love for this parade,” she said.

Entertainers, activists, drag performers and transgender advocates carry a message of unity as grand marshals of parades as new laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community take effect in several US states.

Ron DeHart, co-president of the Pride Association of America, said, “The platform will go from strength to strength, and communities across the country will show unity and solidarity through events like this.”

The annual observatory has expanded to other cities and has grown to welcome bisexual, transgender, queer people and other groups.

About ten years ago, when a 13-year-old wanted to be called a boy for the first time, Roz Gould Keith asked for help. She could do little to help her family get through this transition. They participated in the Detroit-area Pride Parade, which saw very little transgender participation.

This year, she is encouraged by the growing attention of transgender people at marches and celebrations across the country this month.

“Ten years ago, when my son said he wanted to go to Motor City Pride, nothing was left for the trans community,” said an organization set up to support and empower transgender youth and their families. Keith, Founder and Executive Director of Stand With Trance. .

She said this year’s event was “crammed” with transgender people.

one of the generals new york The city’s parade will be joined by non-binary activist A.C. Dumurao, who is chief of staff for Athlete Alley, an organization that represents LGBTQ+ athletes.

“Uplifting the trans community has always been at the core of our events and programs,” said NYC Pride spokesperson Dan Dimant.

Many of this year’s parades called on the LGBTQ+ community to unite to oppose the dozens, if not hundreds, of bills currently pending in state capitols across the country.

Legislators in 20 states are moving to ban the raising of gender-affirming children, and at least seven more states are considering similar measures, increasing the urgency of the transgender community, it says. they say.

“We are under threat,” said Pride event organizers in New York, San Francisco and San Diego, along with about 50 other Pride organizations across the country, in a statement. “The diverse dangers we face as LGBTQ communities and pride organizers differ in nature and intensity, but they share a common denominator. It seeks to undermine our identities, our freedoms, our security and our livelihoods.”

Some parades, including the one in Chicago, had planned to step up security amidst the chaos.

The Anti-Defamation League and LGBTQ+ national organization Glaad found 101 anti-LGBTQ+ cases in the first three weeks of this month. That’s about double the total for June last year.

Sarah Moore, who analyzes the extremism of two civil rights groups, said many of June’s incidents overlapped with Pride events.