Pride parades march on with new urgency across U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP/CBS SF) --  Pride parades kicked off in San Francisco and around the country Sunday with glittering confetti, cheering crowds, fluttering rainbow flags and newfound fears about losing freedoms won through decades of activism.

The annual marches across the nation are taking place just two days after one conservative justice on the Supreme Court signaled, in a ruling on abortion, that the court should reconsider the right to same-sex marriage recognized in 2015.

Thousands of people lined Market Street in San Francisco for the SF Pride Parade's triumphant return after two years of being canceled by the pandemic. Marching bands, floats and cheerleading troupes were among the attractions at the procession that drew attendees from around the world.

One attendee visiting from Utah said that it was important for her to make the trip to San Francisco for Pride weekend, especially after the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe. v. Wade just two days ago.

"I grew up in an environment where I didn't feel like I could be myself. I'm bisexual. I felt like it's important for people to be themselves and show who they really are," she said. "Pride mean being able to be your authentic self; to be who you are and not be ashamed of it."

Some marchers and spectators held signs condemning the court's abortion ruling. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who rode in a convertible holding a gavel and a rainbow fan, said the large turnout was an acknowledgement that Americans support gay rights.

"Even in spite of the majority on the court that's anti our Constitution, our country knows and loves our LGBTQI+ community," she said in an on-air interview.

The warning shot from the nation's top court came after a year of legislative defeats for the LGBTQ community, including the passage of laws in some states limiting the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity with children.

Thousands of people — many decked in pride colors — lined the parade route through Manhattan, cheering as floats and marchers passed by.  

"We're here to make a statement," said 31-year-old Mercedes Sharpe, who traveled to Manhattan from Massachusetts. "I think it's about making a point, rather than all the other years like how we normally celebrate it. This one's really gonna stand out. I think a lot of angry people, not even just women, angry men, angry women."

As anti-gay sentiments resurface, some are pushing for the parades to return to their roots — less blocks-long street parties, more overtly civil rights marches.

"It has gone from being a statement of advocacy and protest to being much more of a celebration of gay life," Sean Clarkin, 67, said of New York City's annual parade while enjoying a drink recently at Julius', one of the oldest gay bars in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

As he remembers things, the parade was once about defiance and pushing against an oppressive mainstream that saw gays, lesbians and transgender people as unworthy outsiders.

"As satisfying and empowering as it may be to now be accepted by the mainstream," Clarkin said, "there was also something energizing and wonderful about being on the outside looking in."

New York's first Pride March, then called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, was held in 1970 to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion, a spontaneous street uprising triggered by a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan.

San Francisco's first march was in 1972 and had been held every year since, except during the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

San Francisco's parade was marked by the return of uniformed police, who were banned in 2020 after a 2019 confrontation with protesters who staged a parade-stopping sit-in. Critics accused them of using excessive force. On Sunday, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott, in full dress uniform, passed out small rainbow pride flags to spectators.  

Celebrations are now global, taking place throughout the year in multiple countries, with many of the biggest parades taking place in June. One of the world's largest, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was held June 19.

In the United States, this year's celebrations take place amid a potential crisis.

In a Supreme Court ruling Friday striking down the right to abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas said in a concurring opinion that the court should also reconsider its 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage and a 2003 decision striking down laws criminalizing gay sex.

New York City parade spectator Jackie English said she and her fiancee Dana had yet to set a wedding date, but have a new sense of urgency.

"Now we feel a bit pressured," she said, adding they might "jump the gun a little sooner. Because, what if that right gets taken away from us?"

More than a dozen states have recently enacted laws that go against the interests of LGBTQ communities, including a law barring any mention of sexual orientation in school curricula in Florida and threats of prosecution for parents who allow their children to get gender-affirming care in Texas.

Several states have put laws in place prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in team sports that coincide with the gender in which they identify.

According to an Anti-Defamation League survey released earlier this week, members of LGBTQ communities were more likely than any other group to experience harassment. Two-thirds of respondents said they have been harassed, a little more than half of whom said the harassment was a result of their sexual orientation.

In recent years, schisms over how to commemorate Stonewall have opened, spawning splinter groups events intended to be more protest-oriented.

In New York City, the Queer Liberation March takes place at the same time as the traditional parade, billing itself as the "antidote to the corporate-infused, police-entangled, politician-heavy Parades that now dominate pride celebrations."

Despite the criticism of growing commercialism, a strong streak of activism was apparent among attendees this year.

"The recent overturning of Roe v. Wade has caused a very strong uproar about what went down," said Dean Jigarjian, 22, who crossed the river from New Jersey with his girlfriend to take part in the New York City parade. "So as you can see here, the crowd seems to be very energized about what could be next."

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• Pride
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