What: NYC’s main Pride event - the March through Manhattan - won’t be back in full force this year, but will have more in-person elements along with its mostly virtual celebration. Where: ABC-7 and other online streaming locations various Manhattan small businesses Marches, Concerts & Celebrations Facebook / NYC Pride 1.
We’ve done our best to round up as many Pride events as we could find in NYC, but please feel to email us at with any other additions!Īnd of course, Happy Pride. All month long there are tons of Pride events and happenings in NYC, from outdoor concerts and plays, to educational art installations, to food specials that give back to non-profit organization centering the queer community, to of course, the iconic Pride March (which continues to be part virtual this year). Of course, with NYC being the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, the city goes all-out for Pride. “I support BLM in all of their anti-oppression initiatives that they speak about in the eight demands,” Hendricks said, but, he added, “On this matter, it really boils down to that inclusion cannot and should not be born out of exclusion and divisive tactics.June is Pride Month: a time to celebrate, honor, and advocate for the diverse queer community - in New York City and beyond. The controversy began at last year’s Pride parade after Black Lives Matter (BLM) called upon Pride to answer for its “anti-blackness” and demanded Pride organizers sign a list of demands, which included removing police floats from future parades.īryn Hendricks, a community activist who helped organize an online petition with 10,000 signatures asking for police to be allowed to march in uniform in the Pride parade, said he’s “saddened” that a police organization in another country had to extend an invitation to the TPS because they’re not welcome here. “Even though we’re 35 years old, we’ve only been able to march in uniform since 1997, so that’s why it was important for us to reach out and try to invite them down here.”Įarlier this month, Pride Toronto’s organizing committee said in a statement that “LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies can march in the Parade with community groups, with the City of Toronto, or even create their own group,” but, it added, it requests that officers not include uniforms, weapons or vehicles in their parade participation.
“We actually had to sue in the United States federal court in 1997 for the right to march in the NYPD uniforms in New York City Pride,” he said. Shepard said they’d been monitoring the situation in Toronto since last year’s Pride parade.īeing able to march in uniform is important to the NYPD, he said, because until 1997, officers were unable to do so. William Shepard, the executive director of GOAL, sent a letter to Toronto police on May 19, requesting permission for officers to march in uniform along with members of the NYPD and the NYPD marching band and colour guard. “I think it’s sad Toronto couldn’t be that progressive and that inclusive.” “I think, isn’t it a mature way to look at things when you’re talking about an inclusive parade, when you’re talking about an inclusive event,” said McCormack. Mike McCormack, the Toronto Police Association president, lauded the invitation to the New York Pride parade, which is on the same day as Toronto’s, June 25. The invitation came from the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) of New York, a civil rights organization dedicated to addressing the concerns of gay and lesbian law enforcement personnel. Though the Toronto Police Service is barred from marching in uniform at this year’s Pride parade, they may be marching alongside NYPD officers at the New York parade next month.