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New York City Gay Pride Parade: Skipping School to Celebrate Love

So it has been a few weeks since I attended the New York City Gay Pride Parade and Festival. and yes, I will admit that this blog post has been long overdue by this point. The truth is, I have spent so much time talking about the New York Gay Pride Parade and all of the excitement surrounding it that I forgot to save my words for a lifestyle blog. When it comes to great experiences in New York, sometimes it can be hard to put into words exactly how you’re feeling. Well here it is, for your enjoyment to live bi-curiously though, snark at or thrive on.

I have been to the New York City Gay Pride Parade before. In High School, I skipped school with my best friend, my sister and her best friend. It was one of the best moments that I can remember from high school. It was the first time that I was in New York City without my parents and the first time that I had ever seen a huge crowd that was so unexplainably happy. Since then, I’ve seen that same crowd of happy city people around in a multitude of places. And about a week before I attended the New York Pride Parade, I attended the local Pride festival in my local hub of Philadelphia. Philadelphia Pride Parade and Festival is both happy and exciting. However, it does not draw the masses quite like the expectations of New York City. And who can resist the call of the Big Apple? 

This year’s parade definitely felt like a calling. In the previous years, it had been fun to celebrate everyone’s pride and acceptance for one another. But it was always followed by the difficult remembrance that this was a feeling that was only being experienced in spaces like Pride parades and being lost in many areas across the country. But this year, was different.

It only took a few short months and decades of hardship for people of the LGBTQ+ community but things were finally starting to flip the pages of history. President Obama had become the first United States President to openly add Gay Rights to his political agenda for his upcoming term and the Supreme Court had ruled that Gay Marriage across all 5o states was to be deemed legal.

This year was special and important. A celebration that would no doubt be unique and memorable. And not because this Pride Parade was any more important than the Pride parades that had come before but because it finally felt like a worldwide celebration. I wasn’t going to skip out on the opportunity to feel that love and happiness and help pass that pride on to everyone else.

I took the train from Philadelphia to New York City. I was surprised by how quickly the atmosphere turning bright and prominent. All of New York City was in celebration and I mean the entire city. I walked the streets of New York and saw wall to wall windows with rainbow flags, people sporting Gay Pride apparel, and brands handing out rainbow food & drinks.

some stores, for example, Google, even turned their headquarter letters rainbow. It was so moving to see all of the physical evidence that suggested something very big had just changed for the better. Even the NYPD and NYFD marched in the Gay Pride Parade in support. It felt like all of New York City was celebrating. I am sure there were people in New York who were not very happy but they couldn’t be heard over the sound of a celebration that had only just begun. 

friends attending the new york city gay pride parade. Holding a rainbow peace flag

There was a sense of presence about this day, New York City and everybody’s mood that felt very humbling and inspiring. There was an amazing turnout in the city, CNN said it expected 1 million people and it sure felt like it. There was no lack of happiness and excitement throughout the huge crowds and it really was a party. You could walk in any direction and hear a happy pop song being blasted. People waved rainbow flags in every direction, brands tossed giveaways at you and performers danced in crazy costumes. All of the vibrance was paired with a sense of relief and accomplishment. I thought I had experienced unexplainable happiness when I had stepped into this event a few years ago. But if that was unexplainable, this was unimaginable. 

two friends holding a "you be you. I'll be me." sign created by Capital One.They are at the NYC Gay Pride ParadeI am aware, like many people have already pointed out, that this is not the end of the fight. The LGBTQ+ community has a lot that they are still striving for. But that doesn’t take away from the idea that this was a magnificent event to be a part of. I am positive that it will be in history books and I am proud to have played a role in the movement for equality that leads up to this Parade. I am proud to have been a part of something that was so much bigger than you or me. This is history in the making and it is truly inspiring.

NYPD marching at NYC gay pride parade holding a rainbow flag and USA flag.

XO,

TheAmeliaBurns 

Check out more photos from events that I’ve attended on my Instagram! 

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