The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer Liberation March on June 29 will begin near the NYC AIDS Memorial and conclude in Central Park, organizers announced on May 7.
The seventh annual edition of the Queer Liberation March, held every year on the same day as Heritage of Pride’s NYC Pride March, calls for marchers to assemble at 11 a.m. at the north end of the triangle at 7th Ave. and West 12th St. From there, marchers will proceed north and disperse in Central Park. Last year’s march started at Sheridan Square and ended near Battery Park.
The Queer Liberation March was first held in 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, in a grassroots effort to return to the original spirit of Pride at a time when there was growing frustration to the corporate and police presence at the main NYC Pride March. The Queer Liberation March bars corporations, police, and politicians.
Jay W. Walker, a co-founder of the Reclaim Pride Coalition, said organizers wanted to assemble at the NYC AIDS Memorial “to honor the history of our communities’ resilience in the face of a hostile federal government” and “return the energy of Queer Liberation to Midtown Manhattan, as we did with our first two marches.”
This year’s march is being held under the themed phrase: “The Queer Liberation March: Resist! Reclaim! Rejoice!”
“That is our purpose,” Reclaim Pride Coalition organizer Jene Patterson said. “We continue that tradition, recognizing the intersectional struggles: race, class, gender, immigration status, bodily autonomy, and so much more, that the entire country is witnessing in this moment and invite all who share our concerns for the future of our country and democracy to join us!”
Organizers believe this year’s march could exceed the 45,000 marchers who flocked to the first march in 2019. The massive 2021 Queer Liberation March appeared to surpass the turnout of the 2019 march.
The Reclaim Pride Coalition’s new website, queermarch.org, is under construction, but organizers said it will be available “very soon.”
