"We need to acknowledge not only our victories we need to mourn our losses, and we need to take a strong stand against those who would diminish or demean us."īut the main march has grown much too large to be staged without security precautions or corporate support, said Cathy Renna, a spokeswoman for NYC Pride. But I think that right now there is more than a celebration that needs to be had for the Pride parade," said Tom Viola, executive director of the theater world charity Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, which has donated $25,000 to the Queer Liberation March. "Is this about our liberation? Or is this just one more commercial activity, like the Macy's (Thanksgiving) parade?"Īnd, backers of the Liberation March say, the NYC Pride March can simply be too festive, letting celebration drown out anger over continued bigotry toward LGTBQ people. "The question is, what is this about?" King said. Reclaim Pride supporters also claim that the presence of so many corporate floats in premier spots forces grassroots contingents to the back of the line.Ĭharles King, the CEO of Housing Works, an AIDS advocacy organization that's handling the finances for the Reclaim Pride Coalition, said marchers from his group were placed so far back last year it was completely dark by the time they finished parading. "You could walk off the sidewalks and into the street and everybody was welcome, and that no longer applies." "In the original marches, the whole point was that anybody could join in," said one of the organizers, Ann Northrop. Those barricades are one of the things that have upset participants in the Liberation March, who say anyone will be welcome to join their procession. Police barricades will keep marchers separate from the throngs of cheering spectators, as they do at other large New York City gatherings like the St. There are 677 contingents marching in the larger parade, each of which had to register months in advance. A related closing ceremony in Times Square will feature a performance by Melissa Etheridge.Ībortion Rights in New York After Roe v. It will also pass by the Stonewall Inn before concluding in the Chelsea neighborhood. The larger NYC Pride March will step off at noon with corporate sponsors including T-Mobile, MasterCard and Delta Air Lines.
at the Stonewall Inn and end with a rally in Central Park. The upstart queer march is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m.
Police Commissioner James O'Neill apologized this month for the Stonewall raid, but organizers of the alternative march deemed the apology too little, too late. They complain that today's march is dominated by corporate floats and is too heavily policed by the same department that raided the Stonewall in 1969. The main Pride march, the dissidents say, has strayed too far from its roots as a ragtag liberation demonstration celebrating an act of resistance. Organizers of the insurgent Queer Liberation March say they expect 10,000 or more at their event, which they say will have a protest vibe. Some 150,000 people are expected to participate in the NYC Pride March, with hundreds of thousands more lining the streets to watch as New York hosts WorldPride for the first time. One of the biggest celebrations of LGBT pride in New York City history will culminate Sunday with not one, but two processions through Manhattan, after dissidents who believe the annual parade has become too commercialized decided to split off with their own march.īoth parades cap a month of events marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, when patrons of a Greenwich Village gay bar fought back against a police raid and sparked a new era of gay activism and visibility.