NYC Pride March draws hundreds of thousands, many concerned about future of LGBTQ rights
NEW YORK -- Rain or shine, there was no stopping one of the largest parades in the country.
Sunday's New York City Pride March happened 55 years after an uprising against police at the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, sparking a global LGBTQ rights movement.
"It is a dream come true"
There was the music, the energy, and, of course, the drag queens. The annual march attracts huge crowds from all over the country. There is an estimated 2 million people or more who attend this event every year, making it one of the largest, if not the largest, parade in the country.
"Oh, I love it. I've been dying to come here for years and it is a dream come true," said Paul Michael of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
"I love it. They don't have anything like this where I am," added Marjorie Woodruff of Santa Barbara, California.
Politics and the future of LGBTQ rights on many minds
People along Fifth Avenue were having a lot of fun, but of course Pride is not just a party. It's a protest. Supporters of Israel marched and so did supporters of Palestine. Multiple people were taken into custody for disrupting the parade route, the NYPD said.
Politics was on a lot of people's minds.
"I'm really concerned about LGBTQ rights in this country. I'm really concerned about the way things are moving and the upcoming election," said New Yorker Ava Grefrath.
"It's very stressful. Like, people don't know whether we're going to have rights next year or not," added Andy Shehigian of New Jersey.
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Alisa Figueroa, a mom from Harlem, said was there on behalf of her intersex daughter, who recently died. She said HIPPA laws kept her from knowing the truth about her own child.
"Parents, or whoever, no matter what age should be able to share their mental status," Figueroa said.
Another man was there supporting his niece.
"Because she's my family. I love her, OK? I support her and love is love," said Stephen Hayes of Santa Barbara, California.
The biggest ally of them all might be Ru Paul's Drag Race judge Michelle Visage, one of this year's grand marshals.
"I never really had a place where I felt authentic and home and it wasn't until I was brought into the ballroom culture, the Harlem ballroom culture in New York City in 1986, that I felt, oh this is what ... this is what family feels like," Visage said.