New York City Pride Parade 2009

Photos and review by Lady Venus


For the first time, I attended the NYC Gay Pride Parade in June. I had previously only been to one such parade, and that was in Philadelphia several years ago. Though I attended with one group, I actually ended up with a different group since they were a few people short. I rode with the gay rodeo boys and I (happily) was able to ride in air-conditioned comfort on this hot June day. Forty years ago, the gay rights movement was born in Greenwich Village in NYC. I won't go into all the details here. You all know how to Google, right? Google "Stonewall Riots" and learn your gay history!

I was able only to experience a very small part of the parade. I understand that the 2008 parade had around 150 entries; however, the 2009 parade had over 300 entries. It was exciting to see gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people coming together with thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of supporters. The crowd was filled with positive energy and I saw only one tiny group of protestors being led away by police. The weather was beautiful, but I was still quite happy to not have walked the whole route. Being in the truck made taking photos a little easier.

My highlight of the day was seeing Randy Jones, the ORIGINAL cowboy from The Village People. He looks amazing and has not aged at all! If you ever have the chance to attend a pride parade, you really should because no one photograph gallery can fully capture all the sites. My gallery is simply a very small offering that I hope you will all enjoy. See the gallery here!