Whoo! Quite a Pride weekend, eh? I was off work on Friday so I was sitting at home, at my computer, watching a live Supreme Court coverage blog, waiting for the decision on marriage equality. Once the happy ruling was announced, I did my day’s worth of editing (life goes on), then hurried down to the Stonewall Inn. If you don’t know, on June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village was the site of what became known as the Stonewall uprising (or sometimes the Stonewall riots), when patrons fought back against a police raid. The demonstrations went on for three days, and that date (or the nearest Sunday thereabouts) is commemorated as the day of Gay Pride celebrations in America and around the world.
Whenever there’s a major victory to celebrate (or a tragedy to mourn), people tend to congregate at the Stonewall, and I wanted to be with my people, so down I went.
I’m going to put the rest of this post behind a link, because – fair warning – it’s huge! There are two hundred and thirteen pictures of NYC Gay Pride 2015 here, so don’t click through unless you’ve got the time (and bandwidth) to load a mountain of fabulousness!
I got there around four, and there was a good -sized crowd forming. People were taking turns getting their pictures taken in front of the Stonewall sign. The bar itself was packed, so after one quick spin I spent the rest of my time out on Christopher Street.
Lots of news coverage. Seventh Avenue was lined with trucks from all the local stations. Nobody interviewed me. The fools!
I left for a while to see a show in Brooklyn with my friend Melissa. Afterwards we headed back to Stonewall, and on the way noticed that the Freedom Tower (aka One World Trade Center) was lit up with the rainbow colors. I couldn’t get a steady shot, but I actually kind of like how the blur turns the spire into a rainbow flag.
Here’s Melissa! The party was in full swing when we got back to Stonewall around ten.
And here’s me! That’s about as big as my smile gets. I have pretty severe resting bitch face so for me this is practically a rictus grin.
There was a dance party happening on the street, with music coming from a boombox buried somewhere in the crowd, so Melissa and I joined in.
Hey, it’s Jason! We were ready for a drink (or two or three) by this time, and the police had cleared the dance party from the streets, so we moved on from Stonewall to the Boiler Room for more Pride festivities (which I did not photograph, but it would mostly just be pictures of the three of us sitting at a table drinking, so you’re not missing much). And that was my Friday! Saturday was spent resting and editing (more on that in my next post).
And Sunday was Pride proper! The Pride March stepped off from Midtown at noon, so I got to the spot I had decided to watch from – Fifth Avenue and Thirteenth Street – around 11 to get a good spot.
The crowd was still pretty thin, so I was able to get right up to the barrier.
One lone protester, although I’m sure there were others along the route. No one paid him much attention.
It was drizzling a bit, but nobody’s enthusiasm was the slightest bit dampened. I was happy with the weather – I always forget sunblock and leave the Pride March looking like a boiled lobster.
The Sirens – a lesbian motorcycle club – are the traditional leaders of the NYC Pride March. (A lot of people think the Dykes on Bikes lead the March, but that’s incorrect – they’re two different organizations.)
The other LGBT motorcycle groups follow. They always get the March off to a raucous start!
The Boy Scouts, carrying the flags of all fifty states.
And a few other flags, too.
The giant balloon rainbow flag, another yearly tradition.
This was the first of the four Grand Marshals – J. Christopher Neal, of FluidBiDesign, an advocacy group for fluid men of African descent. Sorry I didn’t get a better picture – he was fixing something the whole time he passed in front of me.
A much better picture of the next Grand Marshal, Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera, called the founding mother of the Ugandan LGBT rights movement.
And the third Grand Marshal, Sir Derek Jacobi. I didn’t get any good pictures of him, unfortunately.
But I love this pic of the fourth and final Grand Marshal, Sir Ian McKellan! Both he and Jacobi were clearly having the time of their lives.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer. This was the politician section of the March, if you couldn’t tell.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
This guy owned the crowd. He was leading the Different Drummers.
Cuteness! Lots of kids in the March this year.
The Gay Geeks of New York – they organized Flame Con, the queer comic convention I went to (and wrote about) recently.
The contingent from Wal-Mart carried the giant rainbow flag this year. Yay?
Okay, so Delta Airlines wins for the weirdest corporate participation. Those pilot and flight attendant costumes are truly disturbing. And yet I love them.
These folks have a TV show, don’t they? Somebody leave a comment and tell me where they’re from.
The woman with the black sleeve just off-frame knew everyone. Somebody from about every third group would run over and hug her.
See? The woman in orange dead center has recognized black-sleeve woman and is about to run over and hug her. I wish I were half that popular.
Well, hey, it’s Adrienne C. Moore, who plays Black Cindy on Orange Is the New Black!
I know her in real life! Pick up that name I just dropped! PICK. IT. UP! (Watch that show if you don’t already, it’s great and she’s amazing on it.)
And here’s the back of Lea DeLaria!
There were a lot of long gaps, so during one I took this picture of the crowd. It was around two o’clock by this point, the sun was shining and the sidewalks were packed. I was pinned against the barrier and very glad I had gotten there as early as I had.
The Wells Fargo Wagon had something special (something very, very special now) just for the group marching behind it – a little wagon filled with horse shit. It parked in front of us during a pause in the march and I felt great pity in my heart for them.
Okay. This kid. This kid was not being surly. They (using the gender-neutral plural pronoun, since I’m unsure what pronoun is appropriate) were serving serious face. This beautiful kid marched in front of their contingent – no, not marched. Vogued. They strut their stuff and worked Fifth Avenue like it was a runway. It was amazing. The entire crowd, including me, was in awe. I’d be amazed if somebody hasn’t started a fan club already. I want to be this kid when I grow up.
FLAWLESS.
Satu Pelangi was parked in front of me for quite a long time while the March was backed up, so I got a lot of pics of them.
I love this picture so much. The Astroglide float parked in front of me for quite a while as well, and they had fun drag queens on stilts so I took a lot of pictures.
Sure, why not? Nurse Anesthetists represent!
And then the phone on my battery died. This was at about four o’clock, and I had been there for about five hours, so my own battery needed some serious recharging as well. I love the Pride March, but damn, it’s long. I watched a bit longer, went for food, came back and watched a bit more, then headed home for a disco nap before meeting Melissa again for Pride night.
And the debauchery that ensued next is not fit for public consumption. (All right, it was pretty much just drinking and dancing in Hell’s Kitchen.)
So that was my 2015 Gay Pride – hope yours was as happy! We had plenty to celebrate this weekend…now get back to work!
