In New York, It's All About Pride | Pride NYC | Tracy Kaler's New York Life — tracysnewyorklife.com

PRIDE. Each year, New York anxiously awaits the week-long celebration in June and its colorful and raucous parade finale. Since 1970, New Yorkers have come together for Pride NYC, supporting civil rights and the LGBT community by marching proudly through the streets of Manhattan. Pride takes on different meanings for different people. What does pride mean to you? Pride can have a negative connotation for some, but not for me. I like to think of pride as feeling content with not only my accomplishments but who I am on the inside and the outside. I’m proud to be female. Proud of an article I wrote.  Proud to be a New Yorker. Pride can have nothing to do with oneself, though, and everything to do with feeling proud of something or someone else. I take great pride in my city. A city where people of all ages and backgrounds gather and march for gay rights. A city where people can be who they really are on the inside and not pretend to be only a mere smidge of themselves on the outside. New York is a city where thousands from around the globe come every year to find their truth, and where they can live that truth and feel accepted. That, in itself, is something to be proud of. What should you expect from Pride NYC? Anything is possible! You’ll witness a lot of men in drag, topless women, rainbows, balloons, streamers, signs, fringe and feathers, glam and glitter, and you’ll hear music and see dancing. Yes, there will be dancing. It will be a spectacle. It will be fabulous. It will be tons of fun. And you can bet that Pride NYC will be an unforgettable experience. You will be surprised and maybe even stunned. You will laugh. And you might cry. What do you do at Pride NYC? You can stand quietly on the sidelines and not hoot or holler and observe (might be tough to do, honestly). Or you can paint your face and body and sport an outlandish get-up, wearing little or nothing, and as a gay friend of mine once said, “Let your freak flag fly.” And in New York, the freakier, the better. ? Here are some more scenes from 2015, 2016 and 2017 Pride NYC courtesy of photographer Eric Barao. Thank you, Eric! What fun! In 2017, individuals, small businesses, corporations, nonprofits, community organizations, political candidates and activists, and 110 floats participated in the Pride parade. The cavalcade grows each year, so Pride NYC is expecting a record number of attendees and participants in 2018! Join Grand Marshalls: Billie Jean King, Lambda Legal, Tyler Ford, and Kenita Placide on Sunday, June 24 at noon. If you plan to attend, I suggest arriving extra early to secure a good viewing spot. Please note that the parade route has changed and will begin at 29th and Fifth Avenue and end at 16th and Seventh Avenue. See the map here. And if you can’t see the parade in person, watch it live on ABC7 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Have you marched in Pride NYC? Tell us about it in the comments! And to stay in the know for all things Pride NYC, visit the website. All photos in this post were shot by Eric Barao. See more of his New York City photos on his Flickr page. Also, for a wild time, try Boots and Saddle on a Saturday afternoon.  And a guide to the West Village where the modern gay rights movement began.

Read More