June 26 (UPI) — Tens of Thousands descended upon Manhattan’s 5th Avenue for the borough’s famed New York City Pride March on Sunday, as the ongoing political fight over the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ community nationwide loomed.
The parade, an annual New York City fixture that attracts millions and is held to commemorate the Stonewall riots of 1969, saw revelers march through Manhattan, waving flags and chanting slogans in support of this marginalized community that is being attacked by hundreds of pieces of legislation that advocates describe as anti-LGBTQ bills.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s map of such bills shows 491 have been entered into state legislatures this year, with 77 of them having been enacted with another 209 advancing.
The conservative backlash against the LGBTQ community in Republican-led states has seen Democrat strongholds move to protect this group, with New York City being among them as Mayor Eric Adams less than two weeks ago signed an executive order to protect access to gender-affirming care.
Prior to the march setting off down 5th Avenue on Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul acted similarly to her Democratic colleague, and signed a spate of bills to protect this community.
“Today, we celebrate the values that define us as New Yorkers. And we embrace love and equality, progressiveness and acceptance, unity and celebration, and we’ve come here to say we are reaffirming our 1,000% support for this community,” she said during a press conference Sunday.
“For me, here today as the governor of the state of New York, that’s not enough because there are people outside our borders in other states, in the United States of America, who do not have the same rights that we do here in New York, and that is wrong.”
Among the bills signed is legislation that she says establishes New York as a “safe haven” for transgender youth by protecting them, their parents and their doctors from other states’ laws that restrict or ban gender-affirming care. Transgender youth and their healthcare have been the target of many of the recent bills, with the Movement Advancement Project stating at least 19 states have banned both medicinal and surgical gender-affirming care for youth.
Hochul also signed four other bills that establish the right to receive addiction treatment and rehabilitation based on one’s gender identity and sexual orientation and to update state laws and websites so they only use gender-neutral terms.
“As we celebrate Pride Month, I am proud to see New York remove the last vestiges of homophobia from our state,” New York State Assemblymember Tony Simone said in a statement. “While new anti-LGBT laws states are being proposed across the country, New York stands for freedom and equality for all.”
Actor Billy Porter, a grand marshal for Sunday’s New York City Pride March, told reporters that the LGBTQ community has made great progress from when he was kid but they are now witnessing “a sick and malicious effort to roll back those victories.”
“They want to criminalize parents and doctors who just want to help our kids, but here in New York, we ain’t having none of that,” he said in celebration of the bills Hochul signed.
“Because New York is not going backwards, we’re moving forward. We will defend the progress we made and we’re going to build upon that. And if you are being persecuted by the laws in your state, you can find a safe haven here.”
Along with New York City, the cities of Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis and San Francisco were among those to hold Pride parades on Sunday, but the divisive political climate in which they were held was never far from the surface.
As San Francisco Mayor London Breed thanked the thousands who came out for her city’s pride, she took shots at the political leaders of Texas and Florida who are seeking to restrict the rights of the LGBTQ community.
“You say don’t say gay; you know what we do in San Francisco? We light up the pink triangle, we light up the entire Market Street with the biggest pride flag any where in the world,” she said, referring to Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay bill that restricted classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Pride Parade has officially hit the streets of San Francisco! We’ve got music, community, excitement, and energy going all the way down Market Street. If you’re in the area come join us in celebrating our vibrant LGBTQ+ community. #Pride pic.twitter.com/XUWlQNzLCy— London Breed (@LondonBreed) June 25, 2023
Earlier this month, some 60 pride organizations penned a statement calling for the reaffirmation of pride amid the current sociopolitical climate and for allies to take action, show up for pride events, donate to local LGBTQ organizations and use their voices to advocate for this community’s rights and issues.
“In this moment of national crisis, our LGBTQ+ community, diverse as it is, must stand in solidarity,” they organizations said. “United, we can fight against those seeking to undo the gains we’ve made.”
