NYC Pride March: A Visual Recap Of The Fight That Continues

NEW YORK CITY — The official New York City Pride March kicked off a series of Pride events on Sunday afternoon. Despite the noticeably thinner-than-normal crowds lining the route after organizers asked people to respect social distancing protocols, the march kept many of its traditions.

The Grand Marshals were officially introduced — and shared powerful messages — and public officials, electrifying performances from numerous musical acts during the march down Fifth Avenue produced a variety of dazzling floats and engaging exhibitors.

"It's our first Pride getting back to life as we once knew it or life beyond what it was before," said Aaron Rose Philip, a Bronx-bred trans model who is one of this year's Grand Marshals. "We've been fighting as a collective community for so long and the fight continues."

Philip is the first Black, transgender and physically disabled model to be represented by a major modeling agency, Elite Model Management.

Public officials also took to the mic to add their voices to the ongoing battle for more equitable legislation.

"I want to assure you we will lead the fight in the Senate to pass the full Equality Act," said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who added that his youngest daughter would be one of many beneficiaries of more LGBTQ rights.

NFN Scout, executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, was on double duty leading the network's exhibition while carrying a massive balloon arch.

"I love the fact that we're out here taking care of ourselves; I wish we do that all year long," said NFN Scout. "To the health world, collect our data. Stop forcing us to stay in the closet and therefore hiding our health disparities."

NFN Scout said one statistic he wanted to highlight was that more than 70 percent of oncologists don't feel equipped to provide care for LGBTQ people diagnosed with cancer.

One of the VIP guests near the dance stage, Roelle, enjoyed the day with family members as she carried a bisexual pride flag and donned a rainbow narwhal hat. It's not her first rodeo—she's already been to ten Pride marches in NYC at the age of 14.

"I have two moms so I go to every single one," she said. "I usually go with friends, so this is the first time I'm going with just family. I'm looking forward to spending time with my two moms."

This year's Pride events are the first since Hospital for Special Surgery exhibitor Ali Kennedy came out. "It's incredibly exciting," said Kennedy. "It's a celebration of the humanity in me, in all of us, of love. Here we are in a pandemic, and if anything is true, what's true now is you must be who you really are because we don't know how long we really have. That's what this Pride means to me."

Below are photos of the NYC Pride March: