A grim forecast of rain and cloudy skies couldn’t deter tens of thousands of people of all ages from showing their colors on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope for the 29th annual Brooklyn Pride festival and twilight parade on June 14.
A feeling of community and neighborhood spirit was on full display throughout the day, as families gathered with young children, many of whom marched with contingents from their elementary schools and the Brooklyn Scouts, holding up bright signs of LGBTQ support.
The rain had fully tapered off when the parade kicked off at 7:30 p.m. Queer organizations abounded, from the Big Apple Softball League, to SALGA NYC, which has served the South Asian LGBTQ community since 1992, queer improv group the Gay Gam, and the NYC Dyke March.
“It’s an important year to be loud and visible, and we’re proud to do that,” said Stephanie Hazelwood, who lives in Brooklyn and marched in NYC-based drum line Fogo Azul with her girlfriend Sandra Hoang. The two met through the group and have been playing proudly for the past three years.
Gotham Cheer, an LGBTQ cheerleading group, thrust their cheerleaders into the sky, each of whom displayed a different Pride flag. The Queer Big Apple Corps Marching Band grooved to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra.”
The parade kicked off with speeches by elected officials from Brooklyn, including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.
“I always speak as a Black, Caribbean man of faith, trying to make sure that all communities understand that has to include our trans siblings as well,” Williams said. “Let’s stand up, let’s show love.”
Heading the parade was grand marshal and out gay City Councilmember Chi Ossé, who stated he was honored to be crowned “the gayest person in Brooklyn 2025,” and vowed to make “this the safest city for queer [and] trans people.”
Ossé was joined by co-marshal Monica Hill, representing the Prospect Park Women’s Softball League, which has brought women, trans and non-binary individuals together since 1981.
Pride is “a chance for all of us to come out and be amongst our community and show and express our joy, and especially in this year it’s an ounce of defiance mixed in,” Hill told Gay City News.
“We are very rooted in this community,” said Hill, who has played with the league for 15 years. “For us [Brooklyn Pride] is a chance to be amongst our peers and many in the crowd are people who have played in the league over the years.”
Bars and restaurants along the parade route were bustling with queer customers clamoring to watch the procession, including the lesbian bar Ginger’s, where the crowd filled far out into the street.
A public art installation, Rooted in Pride, featuring work by queer artists in Brooklyn and celebrating the borough’s queer community, was hanging outside of Washington Park on Fifth Avenue, and will be on display until August 1.
Zack Reedy and his service dog, Gizmo, marched in the parade with GMHC, an NYC-based nonprofit dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic since 1981. He was decked out in pink overalls, a rainbow button-down short-sleeved shirt, and pink glasses.
“I went through seven years of meth abuse and three years of homelessness, and [now] I get the opportunity as a substance abuse counselor, to help my community where it all started,” Reedy shared. “I have such great Pride that I get to march in the parade tonight with this amazing organization … We’re still there, boots on the ground taking care of our community and we’re not gonna stop.”
David Echevarria joined Reedy. He recalled arriving in New York City from Puerto Rico and marveling at witnessing “an endless sea of different types of queer people of all different types and colors.”
Echevarria remembers his excitement at seeing same-sex couples appearing at ease while kissing and holding hands on the subway.
“Pride, what it means to me as a pansexual woman of color is to be liberated, with the friends that you love,” said Danielle Jackson, from the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, who became friends with Reedy after meeting at Jacob Riis Beach in a past summer.
Hope traveled three hours from Northeastern Pennsylvania to celebrate Brooklyn pride with her friends, including Kit.
“I’m visiting from a very red area of the country and I couldn’t think of a better place to feel confident and comfortable in myself,” Hope said. Being queer where she lives “is isolating, it’s a lonely experience, it’s a lot of faceless profiles on dating apps because no one wants to be honest about who they are,” she added.
By contrast, being in Brooklyn is “a big weight off my chest — there’s not a worry in the world when I’m here.”
“I feel like it’s been meaning more and more over the years as things have been getting more intense,” reflected Kit, who hand-fringed tassels onto their rainbow cowboy hat. Pride is “almost like an umbrella of protection — excuse the rain pun — it feels like there’s safety in numbers.”
Tatyana, who started her day at 10 a.m. running in the Brooklyn Pride 5K, told Gay City News that she and her wife Valerie both came to NYC with their parents at 11 years old from Ukraine and Russia, respectively. They had spent the day checking out the crowd’s outfits, discovering queer books, and exploring community organizations in the fair.
“So for me, Pride means being in a place where I can be myself and where I don’t have to be afraid or boxed in, and showing my son that his family is amazing and beautiful and safe here,” Tatyana said.
Compared to Manhattan, “Pride in Brooklyn is a much more chill and much more lesbian space,” she added.
Eleven-year-old Shura, a sixth grader accompanied by her parents, was one of many children watching the parade.
Pride is “a place where all the LGBTQ people can feel comfortable and see each other and communicate,” Shura explained. “Because people don’t have to be scared to show themselves and express themselves.”
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