Boston put on a radiant display Saturday for its annual Pride Parade festivities. The dress code called for glitter and rainbows as spectators lined the parade route downtown before flooding into Boston Common for an all-day festival.
With whistles, clappers and other noise making instruments in hand, attendees gathered under an overcast sky to celebrate the culture and history of the LGBTQ+ community. In the Back Bay, residents watched from windows and gathered on small balconies as the parade marched by, music blasting from floats.
Cambridge native Karen Russell wore a shirt reading “Be Authentic. Be Proud. Be You.” It’s her 40th year of coming to Boston Pride events — her favorite holiday of the year.
“Everybody in the community comes together for one cause. You know what I’m saying?” Russell said. “It’s like nobody discriminates. Everybody’s equal, you know? And it’s a parade for everyone.”
Sitting beside her was Sam Brock, of Concord, who stumbled upon the festivities as he came out of a job interview. Brock and Russell met for the first time Saturday and became friends. Russell said while he’s not part of the LGBTQ+ community himself, being around so many happy people brought him joy.
“She’s been coming here since the ’80s. And I just can’t imagine how incredible it is for them to see all the love and acceptance they’re getting now,” Brock said. “Even though there’s so much of a far way to go.”
The theme this year was “Pride as Protest since 1776.” It tips to the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding while bringing focus to the tensions that exist for queer people in the U.S. today, said Adrianna Boulin, president of Boston Pride for the People, the group that organized the event.
Boulin said, for LGBTQ+ people, “to be authentically living as who you are is an act of protest,” in a world where “our very existence” is contested in national politics.
Carolyn McDonald and Laura Diamond have attended Pride since the late ’70s. They’ve been together for 41 years and married for 20. These days, they said it’s important for their generation to turn out in order to show LGBTQ+ youth what kind of life is possible for them too.
“It’s a hard time right now for the younger generation to be out, and we kind of know what that feels like because we came out in the ’80s, in the ’70s, and it was tough” McDonald said. “So it’s important to show up and support.”
It was the first Boston Pride for Nick Mallinson and Sam Hardesty, who moved to the area from West Hartford last year. Mallinson said being at Pride “ tells me that I feel safe here as a trans person.”
Mallinson said while some may believe protests carry a negative connotation, “protest is at its core coming out for the people you love, and the community that you love, and the views that you have that you love. And it’s inherently joyful to me.”
Some attendees wore massive flags as capes and others had rainbow-painted faces. A marching band played “Sweet Caroline” as the crowd sang along, while elsewhere protesters led a chant for abortion rights.
At the trans memorial, community members were invited to hold photos of deceased members of the trans community “ to share that we miss them,” and “ to say their name and ensure that they are not forgotten,” Boulin said.
At the same time, Boulin said, “my hope is that everyone can connect to some form of euphoria and sense of belonging at the event.”
