Hundreds of Thousands in US LGBT Pride Parades

06/26/2023 03:34 (act. 06/26/2023 06:28)

Crowds thronged the streets. – Here in San Francisco. ©AP

Hundreds of thousands of people took part in pride marches in New York and San Francisco on Sunday.

The crowd roamed the streets of metropolises on the American west and east coasts, waved rainbow flags and, in colorful costumes, drew attention to the rights of homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals and other minorities.

San Francisco celebrated

The parade in San Francisco was traditionally led by “bicycle hoes” (lesbians on motorcycles). Former Speaker of the US House Nancy Pelosi and California Representative Adam Schiff also joined the procession through the city.

The parade in San Francisco was traditionally led by “bicycle hoes” (lesbians on motorcycles). Former Speaker of the US House Nancy Pelosi and California Representative Adam Schiff also joined the procession through the city.

parade in new york

The Pride Parade dates back to the Stonewall riots of 1969. At the time, revelers resisted a police raid on the popular gay bar Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. On the first anniversary of the clashes, around 4,000 people marched through New York demanding equal rights – today Christopher Street Day (CSD) commemorates this around the world.

The Pride Parade dates back to the Stonewall riots of 1969. At the time, revelers resisted a police raid on the popular gay bar Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. On the first anniversary of the clashes, around 4,000 people marched through New York demanding equal rights – today Christopher Street Day (CSD) commemorates this around the world.

This year’s Pride celebrations also highlighted the LGBTQ community’s concerns about diminished rights and rising violence and hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer people.

LGBTQ Discrimination in the US

LGBT is the English abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans. The LGBTQ variant is also often used. Other variants are LGBTQI, LGBTQI* or LGBTQIA+. Each letter represents someone’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

Legislative initiatives aimed at preventing transgender people from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity are seen as examples of this type of discrimination in conservatively governed US states. Some states want to criminalize sex reassignment treatments for teenagers. A much criticized school law in the US state of Florida bans the topics of “sexual orientation or gender identity” from kindergarten through third grade and also restricts it for older students.