US: More than a million people to attend New York Pride parade
More than a million people are expected to attend New York City’s Pride parade today.
According to CBS 2, organisers are expecting more than a million people to attend the march, which is one of the biggest in the US.
The event will be held at the same time as many others around the US, with Pride marches in Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco also taking place today.
The New York parade, which sets off from Manhattan and ends outside the Stonewall Inn, is set to begin at noon, with large parts of the city closed off to vehicles.
The end location is especially poignant, as the parade is marking the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, often considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.
The three grand marshals for the event will be Looking star Jonathan Groff, actress Laverne Cox, and Rae Carey, of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
It will be livestreamed on YouTube through #PrideCast, in a collaboration between Google and Mashable.
Heritage of Pride (HOP) had launched legal action against Matinee NYC and Voss NYC over their use of the phrase.
Promoter Brandon Voss said in a statement: “It is absurd that any organization should own the word Pride used next to the name of our city. Especially one that is using this as a tactic to funnel revenue to itself by demanding fees for the right to call themselves ‘official’ events.”
