By Zarah Harris
Waves of color filled the streets of NYC over the weekend for Pride. This year’s theme, “The Fight Continues”, was a call to acknowledge there is still work to be done. “In a time of tremendous adversity for the community on many fronts, ‘The Fight Continues’ reflects the multitude of battles we’ve been fighting as a country and as a city. With the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing, issues of police brutality, the alarming murder rate for trans POC, economic hardship, climate disasters, violent efforts to disenfranchise voters, our rights as a community being questioned at the level of the Supreme Court, and more, we are in the midst of many different fights.” a statement on NYC Pride’s website explained. The grand marshals for the 2021 NYC Pride March included Wilson Cruz, Ceyenne Doroshow, Menaka Guruswamy, Arundhati Katju, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, and Aaron Philip. Each of these individuals were nominated for their efforts and hard work to improve the livelihood of the LGBTQ+ community.
Numerous activities were hosted in-person and online for the celebration. In-person events included the LGBTQ Pride Run 6k, PrideFest and more. For virtual events attendees could choose to participate in Pride Island, Youth Pride and other online activities. This year’s Pride Parade was conducted on a much smaller scale with pop-ups along the route so that attendees could support local businesses. The parade started in Bryant Park while PrideFest took place in Greenwich Village. PrideFest made a return for its 27th year in person. The street fair featured exhibitors, performances, food and other celebratory activities. Although the crowd size was significantly reduced compared to previous years, Pride was still filled with high spirits and empowerment.
An attendee, Alexa Letourneau told Pix11 News, “The amount of love in the atmosphere for just coming together and celebrating originality and who we are is inspiring.” The gatherings of this past weekend uplifted LGBTQ+ voices, embraced all identities and ultimately celebrated love.