All the colors of the rainbow were proudly on display in Jackson Heights during the 18th Annual Queens Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade.
Around 65 organizations with multicolor balloons, rainbow flags, brightly colored and semi-dressed drag queens marched or drove down from 85th to 75th streets on 37th Avenue on Sunday, June 6 and entertained an estimated 50,000 people on the hot and humid day.
One of the parade goers WWII veteran Dick Dahn, who marched with the American Veterans for Equals Rights with his longtime partner Gary Payne, sat in his wheelchair and held up a sign that read, “GAY WWII VET. Dick & Gary together 53 years.”
“It is a horrible thing to do,” said Dahn, about the federal law forbidding gay military members to talk about their sexual orientation.
“We are here to fight for an amendment to the 1994 Congressional ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ bill,” said Payne, who also served in the military during the Vietnam War.
Among the organizations that participated in the parade were the Center of Queens County, Latinos Unidos of N.Y., Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Empire State Pride Agenda, SALGA NYC, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Citizens Alliance for Progress, and Cheer N.Y.
The parade’s 2010 Grand Marshall, Councilmember Daniel Dromm, said he “looked forward to this event more than Christmas,” but realized that the parade is only a step.
“We still have a lot of battles ahead on the civil rights front,” said the openly gay elected official.
Acceptance and respect for LGBT rights was a theme heard throughout the festivities. Tom Shanahan, a civil-rights attorney, recalled how difficult it used to be a decade ago, when he first attended this parade.
“It was a gay-only event, with some Christians throwing holy water at us and saying God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve,” Shanahan said. “Now, you see people cheering at us who clearly are not gay.”
