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Parades in NYC, Other Big Cities All Commemorate This 1969 Event

It's the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which sparked modern gay-rights movement
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 30, 2019 1:00 PM CDT
Across the Country, LGBT Parades on a Most Important Date
Marchers participate in the Queer Liberation March in New York on Sunday.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

As Pride Month comes to a close, New York threw a massive LGBTQ Pride March, as other cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, and Seattle, also hosted parades commemorating the 50th anniversary of the clash between police and gay bar patrons that sparked the modern gay-rights movement. New York's Pride March kicked off at noon local time Sunday, with 677 contingents that included community groups, major corporations, and cast members from FX's Pose. Organizers say they expected 150,000 people to march, with hundreds of thousands more lining the streets. A smaller Queer Liberation March started Sunday morning at the Stonewall Inn—the bar where patrons resisted a police raid in 1969—proceeding to Central Park for a rally.

"This year is truly historic," one of the march organizers told the Wall Street Journal, which noted this year's parade coincided with WorldPride, a global celebration of LGBTQ rights that is being held in the US for the first time. Thousands of people packed onto Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as the Pride March started, with revelers dressed in rainbow-colored clothing waving flags and signs as the parade got underway. Resident Alyssa Christianson, 29, wore a Pride flag turned into a cape and said she loves coming to the parade because she says "everybody's happy and everybody's excited." Security was tight with police officers stationed throughout the route. Meanwhile, Chicago's Pride Parade kicked off at noon. Lori Lightfoot, the city's first openly gay mayor, was one of several grand marshals. (More LGBTQ stories.)

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