Rainbow celebration: Millions celebrate Pride in America

Americans marked LGBT Pride Day this year with an extra measure of gusto, turning out en masse at festivities on June 28 in New York and other cities to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage across the country.

Two days after the court ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry, Gov. Andrew Cuomo kicked off the New York City celebration by officiating at the marriage of two men outside of the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village bar that is considered the birthplace of the U.S. gay rights movement.

“I want you to know I’m a little nervous today — it’s my first marriage,” Cuomo joked before marrying a couple in front of a crowd of several dozen onlookers.

Earlier this month, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission granted official landmark status to the Stonewall, site of a June 1969 riot that galvanized the then-incipient gay rights movement.

After the June 28 ceremony, one of the men called Cuomo an “LGBT hero” and said the experience was “a dream come true.”

Millions of people attended pride parades in Chicago, San Francisco and Minneapolis and other U.S. cities, culminating a weekend of festivities in those cities. The events and parades mark the 46th anniversary of a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, setting off protests widely credited with the start of the U.S. gay rights movement.

The court ruled on June 26 that the Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law mean that states cannot ban marriages between two men or two women. With the landmark ruling, marriage becomes legal for all people in all 50 states.

Cuomo said New York’s early progressive stance on gay rights made gay marriage a reality.

“New York was the laboratory. And you know what? The sky didn’t fall,” he said.

A short time later, thousands of people lining Fifth Avenue   reveling in a sea of rainbow flags cheered and shouted as dozens of colorful floats and costumed marchers in the New York City Gay Pride Parade passed by in a jubilant procession.

“It’s awesome, there’s more people, it’s more animated this year, people are more excited this year,” said Aaron Seide, a 24-year-old retail worker from Westchester County whose cheeks were covered with rainbow-colored sprinkles. 

On a street corner, four men and women carried banners with messages in opposition to gay rights.

“Are you on the highway to Heaven or hell?” read one. “Know the God of your Bible,” read another.

In San Francisco, tens of thousands of people, some decked out in rainbow-themed tutus and body suits, cheered the city’s annual gay pride parade.

“We have a long way to go, but I think the broader public is beginning to understand nobody is hurting each other because of a life decision. Love wins,” said Colleen Hackett, 51, of La Honda, California.

Some attendees wanted to frame the Supreme Court ruling in the context of a still-unfinished march to equality, but others were content just to celebrate, such as Berkeley resident Stephanie Brown.

“There is more to celebrate today, but I always feel like Pride is a day to enjoy by itself, without worrying about the next milestone,” she said.