Miami Beach Pride Festival and parade drew thousands from around the world
MIAMI BEACH - The Miami Beach Pride Festival and parade drew thousands of people from all over the world to celebrate the unique spirit and culture of the LGBTQ+ community.
"It's a chance to come together as a community. It's a chance for us to show each other love and who we are, and we can just be free," said Tuan Tran.
Over 170,000 people descended on the island for the weekend-long festival. This year's theme was Pride, Progress, and Perseverance. It comes at a time when sexual orientation and gender identity have been challenged in the classroom.
"People need to come together more often, and they'll find they have more of common ground, but here is a place where she would start where unity is more diversified than anywhere else," said one paradegoer.
The flags, the colors, the music, and the dancing were just a small part of the joy the attendees felt. Miami Beach police were in place to make sure all the fun went on without any problems.
"We have uniform personnel along the parade route and we also have undercover officers who are obtaining intelligence," said Officer Christopher Bess.
So, for the 16th year, love and being gay was honored.
"In a world [where] Like everything is going on, it's important that we take the time out to celebrate love, celebrate each other, and just like celebrate being free and gay," said Tran.