"It is all a reminder to the world that we deserve and are entitled to the exact same rights as other citizens, and should enjoy the freedom to live our own lifestyles without others passing judgement and spewing hatred.
"The attire of attendees is generally vibrant, and can range from next to nothing to full leather and fetish wear," the GayPrideNewOrleans website says. Pride celebrations have today evolved into various annual rituals and gay pride parades are an exuberant part of that. These rallies became known as the Stonewall riots, uprising and/or rebellion, and are widely regarded as the genesis of the modern gay and lesbian freedom movement. Word of the protest grew, and on following nights larger groups gathered to protest the mistreatment. More police were called and a riot exploded. Police were carrying out what was in those days one of their usual raids of gay establishments (accompanied by another round of beatings of patrons), this time targeting the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay hangout.īut that night the lesbian and gay patrons decided for the first time to fight back, the outrage of patrons about the harassment they were receiving spilling over.
The Gay Pride movement is widely accepted to have begun in New York City on June 28 1969. The way to beat them is to carry on with normal life. What terrorists and those who carry out hate crimes want most is to take away our liberty. Photos of all 49 killed in the shooting were carried through the parade on a night when people's fury was acted out and channelled down a neon-lit street that had determined the best way to protest was to party on. It had only been six nights since the Orlando nightclub shooting, and parade participants and spectators were grieving, angry, consumed and riled up. Besides its usual quest for acceptance of the LGBT community, the June 18 parade had a painful significance.
Cheering reached fever pitch as mardi gras-style floats and groups on foot passed by.īut there was a gut-wrenchingly sad side to it all. It was a night of excess, trumpeted in by brass bands and police sirens. Those in the parade wore leather and dog collars, hot pants and heels. Part of the New Orleans Gay Pride event, the gay pride parade was audacious, inspiring, invigorating and utterly thrilling - whether you were LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) or not.