The official Pride March took tentative steps back into the post-vaccine "real world" on Sunday, though much of the event—that in 2019 saw some four million people pack themselves into the streets—was still mostly held on a made-for-TV set near Madison Square Park, with only a few small "pods" heading off down Fifth Avenue to the Stonewall Inn.
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It was kind of a strange scene, with the spectators who showed up for the unpromoted parade along the unannounced route ready for a party that never really started, but for some it just felt good to gather again, no matter how cautiously. "It's great to see that we're now finally able to get together and celebrate and show our support to the community," said Salah Azizi, standing behind the NYPD barricades. "The people, the energy, the feeling that New York City is back... that's really something we've been looking forward to especially after this past year, just celebrating, and seeing the joy in people's faces."
Much more crowded was the ancillary PrideFest that ran for four blocks on Fourth Avenue below Union Square, a street fair of sorts that featured several vaccine booths, lots of corporate freebies, and a couple of energetic, impromptu dance parties that perhaps served as a warmup for the unofficial Pride rager in Washington Square Park, which was jam-packed all day long. At least 8 people were arrested in the park as NYPD clashed with the celebratory crowd.
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Meanwhile, up in Bryant Park, tens of thousands of protestors gathered for the very-much IRL Queer Liberation March, stepping off at around 3 p.m. and taking over Seventh Avenue for an hours-long journey also down to Stonewall. Organized by the Reclaim Pride Coalition and now in its third year of counterprogramming for those who are sick of the corporate-sponsored Pride, it definitely felt like the main event yesterday.
A protestor named Jamie explained the appeal of Queer Liberation to him: "My very first Pride was in 1989, when everyone was dying of AIDS. I went with a coalition of queer punks and even back then corporations were coming in and monetizing the [Gay Rights] movement. This isn't about money! This isn't about handing over our dollars to a corporation that only wants our money, but doesn't want us. How many of these corporations are going to the states right now that are enacting anti-trans bills to fight for us? Are they supporting their trans customers? No, they're not! They're just supporting pride [in] the month of June purely to get money, and that's it, so we're here to take Pride back."
Unsurprisingly, the Queer Liberation March was a full-throated affair, with anti-NYPD chants and demands for trans rights and protections filling the air all along the two-plus-mile long route. Not that there wasn't also dancing, partying, and kink on display here too. This is Pride, after all, the politics of which have always been rooted in the freedom to celebrate your authentic self.
