Skip to main content
Thursday, November 12, 2026Nov 12
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

At gay pride parades, a year to weave sorrow and celebration

FILE - In this June 28, 2015 file photo, Scott Parent, left, and Tigger! Ferguson, wearing a wedding dress, parade down Fifth Avenue during the Heritage Pride March in New York where to mood was festive following the landmark Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples can marry anywhere in the country. The atmosphere this year couldn't be more different. Parades in New York and other major cities Sunday will feature increased security, anti-violence messages and tributes to those killed in this month's massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
FILE - In this June 28, 2015 file photo, Scott Parent, left, and Tigger! Ferguson, wearing a wedding dress, parade down Fifth Avenue during the Heritage Pride March in New York where to mood was festive following the landmark Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples can marry anywhere in the country. The atmosphere this year couldn't be more different. Parades in New York and other major cities Sunday will feature increased security, anti-violence messages and tributes to those killed in this month's massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) FILE - In this June 28, 2015 file photo, Scott Parent, left, and Tigger! Ferguson, wearing a wedding dress, parade down Fifth Avenue during the Heritage Pride March in New York where to mood was festive following the landmark Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples can marry anywhere in the country. The atmosphere this year couldn't be more different. Parades in New York and other major cities Sunday will feature increased security, anti-violence messages and tributes to those killed in this month's massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A year after New York City’s jubilant pride parade celebrated a high point for gay Americans with the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, the atmosphere surrounding the annual march couldn’t be more different.

Sunday’s parades in New York, San Francisco and other cities are unfolding two weeks after a gay nightclub in Florida became the site of the nation’s deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in modern U.S. history.

Celebrations planned around such themes as supporting transgender people and pressing for economic justice have quickly taken on new meanings. Parade-goers will see increased security, anti-violence messages and tributes to those killed in Orlando.

But organizers don’t want the massacre to stamp out the defiant exuberance of events rooted in declaring that gay people aren’t afraid to be seen and heard.

“Last year was such a celebratory time, and this year, we have this happening,” says James Fallarino, a spokesman for organizers of the New York parade, one of the nation’s oldest. “But that’s also why it’s so important that we are out and loud and proud.