Manhattan, Pride Parade

This Sunday on June 29 the place to be is Manhattan as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) parade unleashes marchers and spectators along the main arterials of the city. Along streets like 5th Avenue, cheers and music will greet parade supporters and occasional jeers and heckles will come forth from those who feel they must protest.

Why the hoopla? Why a parade? In this liberal and sometimes libertine city, why should anyone care for the plight of the LGBT? Because behind every celebration, there preceded a period of struggle. A parade like this couldn’t be possible without those who fought for the basic right of a people to be free—the right of LGBT people to be who they are, the right to be themselves without prejudices and without discrimination. In truth, discrimination exists still. But the parade is about progress and celebration of this moment in time. Parade marchers—some outrageously costumed, some utterly boring and normal—could not revel today if not for the many who challenged this country to practice the full equality before the law and before God in which it was founded by laying down their sweat, tears, and sometimes their lives to make this equality real.

The media machines will capture the colorful personalities, the fantastic costumes, and the grandstanding. What won’t get media attention are the quiet and normal lives of LGBT people. Day in and day out they struggle like anyone else to make a living. In this city, they can find legal respite from discrimination. In this parade, they can let their hair and their guards down. On this day, diversity, sexuality, artistry, and bravery are celebrated. And the right to settle back to quiet, integrated, normal lives after the parade passes through.



Photo by: Sir Mervs. URL:www.flickr.com/photos/sir_mervs/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/