NEW YORK (AP) — The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride reaches its exuberant finale Sunday, with rainbow-colored revelers taking to the streets for massive parades in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere around the world.
The elaborate festivities will function as both joyous celebrations and political protests, with participants recognizing the community’s achievements while drawing attention to recent anti-LGBTQ+ laws, such as transgender health care bans, that have been passed in Republican-led states.
This year, tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza are also seeping into the festivities, exposing divisions within a community often aligned on political issues.
Already this month, pro-Palestinian activists have disrupted pride parades in Boston, Denver and Philadelphia. Several groups participating in marches on Sunday said they would attempt to center the victims of the Gaza war, provoking resistance from supporters of Israel.
“It’s definitely a more active presence this year in terms of protest at Pride events,” said Sandra Pérez, executive director of NYC Pride. “But we were born from a protest.”
The first pride march was held in New York City in 1970 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Inn Uprising, a riot that began with a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan.
In addition to the NYC Pride March, the nation’s largest, the city will also host the Queer Liberation March on Sunday, an activism-focused event launched five years ago amid concerns that the more mainstream parade had become too corporate.
Another of the largest Pride celebrations in the world kicks off on Sunday in San Francisco. More parades are planned in Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle.
In addition to concerns about protests, federal agencies have warned that foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters could target the parades and surrounding locations. A heavy security presence is expected at all events.
