In Chicago, 49 marchers at the head of the parade each held aloft a poster-sized photograph of a different Orlando victim as the procession wound through the city. They came two weeks after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. New York’s parade was one of several being held Sunday across the country, along with San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis and St. But then Orlando happened, and seeing so many of my friends shrink in fear made me realize that coming here was more important,” said Hillman, wearing an anti-assault guns T-shirt. “For me, I wasn’t going to ride because I have 17-month-old twins at home.
The transgender New Yorker said he hadn’t planned to come to the march. Kenny Hillman, a 39-year-old Brooklyn filmmaker, was ready to roar his Triumph Bonneville down Fifth Avenue. “What happened in Orlando made me want to come more,” said Restrepo, swathed in a multicolored scarf. She had brushed aside her father’s concerns about security to attend the march for the first time. H”Īuthorities had expected a larger-than-usual crowd, and 15-year-old Chelsea Restrepo, of Staten Island, was among the onlookers. Yet LGBT Americans still face too many barriers. On Sunday, with her Twitter handle appearing in rainbow colors, Clinton wrote: “One year ago, love triumphed in our highest court. Al Sharpton for a brief appearance at Stonewall Inn, the bar where a 1969 police raid helped catalyze the gay rights movement.
Andrew Cuomo, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rev. She walked several blocks of the march, joining New York Gov. Elected officials turned out in force, as did presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. An announcer introducing state officials and guests also shouted out, “Love is love! New York is Orlando!” in memory of the 49 people killed in Florida. Some spectators held up orange “We are Orlando” signs, and indications of increased security were everywhere, with armed officers standing by. NEW YORK (AP) - Rainbow flags were held high along with portraits of the dead as thousands of people marched Sunday in gay pride parades tempered by this month’s massacre at a Florida gay nightclub.Ĭrowds of onlookers stood a dozen deep along Fifth Avenue for New York City’s parade.