THE DETAILS
• When: Sunday, June 24; noon
• Where: The parade begins on Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street and proceeds south to 8th Street where it continues west. At Sixth Avenue, the parade veers northwest on Greenwich Avenue for one block then heads southwest through the Village on Christopher Street. The parade typically ends at PrideFest, a street festival on Greenwich and Washington Streets between Christopher and Spring Streets. Due to problems securing a permit, PrideFest has been canceled this year.
• Why: In its 38th year, the annual GLBT celebration commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots, considered the birth of the Gay Rights movement in America. (At 2 p.m., a moment of silence will recognize those who have died of AIDS.)
• Free
THE VANTAGE POINTS
• Fifth Avenue towards the beginning of the parade (from 52nd to 34th Streets) is less crowded and more touristy (and more straight). As you head downtown along the parade trail, there’s less room to breathe. Heads Up: bible-toting protesters typically assemble at the north end of the parade.
• Christopher Street, the home-stretch of the parade route, is packed—once you find a spot, don’t expect to move for a few hours, and don’t even think about separating from your group. The upside: you get an intimate view of the parade marchers—and parade onlookers.
• The official reviewing stand (where marchers get announced and floats get judged) is on Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street—announcers are sprinkled throughout various points along the parade route—at the parade’s formation, the Public Library (Fifth Avenue at 41st Street), the turn at Fifth Avenue and 8th Street, and at the parade’s end.
POPULAR PARTICIPANTS
• Grand Marshals: Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and Rev. Dr. Troy Perry, community activists
• American Veterans for Equal Rights New York
• Amnesty International-OutFront
• Human Rights Campaign
• New York City Gay Men’s Chorus
• NYC Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gay Men, Inc. (PFLAG)
• Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center
• A plethora of go-go boys and girls from clubs throughout the city
• Mayor Bloomberg
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