New York celebrates LGBTQ pride

New York is celebrating its LGTBI + Pride Day this Sunday with a highly virtual official event, but thousands of people have taken to the streets to claim the rights of this community in an alternative march and also have fun, taking advantage of the recent end of restrictions against covid-19.

The Big Apple, which in 2019 when it hosted World Pride hosted the largest parade in the world, with 150,000 participants and four million visitors, once again opted for caution in the context of the pandemic by proposing a program broadcast on the internet with performances, interviews and informative content.

A small group of 200 representatives from groups seeking to advance gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights marched through Lower Manhattan at noon in front of a cheering audience in a festive mood and waving rainbow flags , but in any case far from the usual crowds in other years.

However, In the afternoon, many New Yorkers decided to attend the Queer Liberation March created three years ago by Reclaim Pride, a coalition of militant groups seeking to recapture the vindictive “spirit” of the movement born. after the 1969 riots at the iconic Stonewall Inn gay. bar in Greenwich Village.

One of its organizers, Blake Roberts, told Efe in the center of Bryant Park, the starting point, that up to 50,000 people were expected at the march and stressed its impact: “We drew the beware in Pride, all these people seek to celebrate but also to feel safe, with fewer police officers and without corporations ”.

Among the colorful flags, posters, cardboard figures and music was Ecuadorian Jessica Guamán, who, with her organization Hope For TGNC, works to provide “legal advice” and help transgender women and LGTB migrants, in particularly in Central America, when they “come out of detention centers. , “he explained.

Supporting this group and with a sign proclaiming the pride of “two spirits” – a concept used by indigenous cultures – one person who identified himself as Fabi pointed out that he was attending this event for the first time to also recognize ” the effort of our ancestors for liberation “.

New York, which has one of the highest coronavirus vaccination rates in the United States, lifted infection restrictions in early June and experienced a return to normalcy this weekend so desired by its citizens, they populate the terraces of restaurants, bars and nightclubs.

Kicking off Pride was a surprise performance by pop diva Madonna last Thursday at a popular Meatpacking District nightclub, which was so packed with fans that hundreds of people waited at the gates, according to local media. reported.

“We are here to celebrate our LGBTQ + siblings, support incredible queer initiatives, declare NY Pride Weekend open and the return of New York City,” the singer said on her social media the same afternoon, prompting the fury.

The city’s official organizer, Heritage of Pride, for the second year in a row ruled out the traditional grand parade with floats and instead promoted a “sample” of what its representatives said was based on a hundred companies to offer “Pop-ups” (ephemeral experiences) of celebration.

The motto was “The fight continues” and the ambassadors, ahead of the celebrities chosen in previous years, have been activists like Ceyenne Doroshow, who runs GLITS, an NGO that supports black trans, or Wilson Cruz, the first gay actor to he played a homosexual character in a series (“My So Called Life”).

Even so, this government-sponsored, corporate-sponsored event has once again been the subject of controversy over its decision to reject the participation of uniformed LGTBI + Police members from next year and until. ‘in 2025, following the debate. National report on police brutality.

For its part, the New York Gay Police Action League (GOAL) expressed disappointment that officers were excluded from the official celebration and claimed its nearly 40 years of work to improve inclusion in the corps and community relations.

With information from Reuters

Photos and reports Ronen Suarc

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