Walsh, Warren, Etheridge Join Thousands In Boston Pride Parade
BOSTON (CBS) - With rainbow flags and bright colors, tens of thousands of people marched with pride and concern Saturday in the 48th Boston Pride Parade.
Photos: 2018 Boston Pride Parade
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh marched the two-mile route through the Back Bay and South End with the U.S. Council of Mayors and 300 different organizations.
This year's theme of "Rainbow Resistance" reflects opposition to new and rising threats against the LGBTQ community, including a November ballot question asking voters whether to keep or repeal the state's 2016 anti-discrimination law.
"There's a lot of mayors here. A lot of mayors are proud of pride, they're proud of gay rights, they're fighting for it and they are proud of what we've done here in Massachusetts and we are offering support to any mayor who needs help," Walsh said.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and singer-activist Melissa Etheridge also took part in the parade.
Warren said this will be the first statewide referendum on transgender rights and repealing the decision would be a step in the wrong direction.
"It means that Massachusetts would have embraced prejudice, ugliness and fear. We are not going to repeal our transgender bill and we are going to stand up for what is right and what's important to Massachusetts," Warren said.
Casey Suffredini is with Freedom For All Massachusetts, a bipartisan coalition to uphold the transgender non-discrimination law in November.
"As a transgender man, it means that even doing something as simple that most people would take for granted, as walking down the street right now, I could be at risk of being discriminated against," Suffredini said.
