The Rev. Nicole Garcia, the faith work director at the National LGBTQ task force, acknowledged that today’s hostile atmosphere weighs on her: “I’m a queer transgender Latina who is ordained,” she said. But she sought to put fear aside on Sunday, and said her biggest concern was “my arthritic knees.”
Likewise, a veteran in the LGBTQ community standing beside her in a bit of shade on the hot morning, David Rothenberg, 89, focused on the joy of the event. “It has the dynamics of early coming out — it’s complicated, but it’s exhilarating,” he said.
Anania Williams from Chicago, who identifies as gender fluid and uses the corresponding pronouns, has shared their journey to that identity on their popular social media accounts, which has led to backlash online. The parade is a respite, a place to be “queer and happy,” they said.
“Everyone’s allowed to change,” they said.
Conservative-led boycotts against companies that once embraced Pride festivities, like Target and Anheuser Busch, have led to billions of dollars of corporate losses. The backlash has also entered the 2024 presidential race, as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has staked his Republican primary hopes on opposition to L.G.B.T.Q. rights and has clashed with corporations, like Disney, that support them.
Heritage of Pride, which organizes the march, recognized the worsening political climate in an open letter earlier this month that was co-signed with the organizers of dozens of other Pride events across the country. In it, they warned that the L.G.B.T.Q. community was “under threat” and criticized “fair weather friends” in corporate America.
“Despite the progress we have made together, we are currently under siege,” the organizers wrote. “An alarming rise in legal disruptions and targeted intimidation by extremist groups at these events, across the United States, is making our celebratory gatherings feel less safe. The threats are becoming tangible, terrifying and can no longer be ignored.”
Those threats have taken many forms.
Across the country, a wave of state legislation has targeted L.G.B.T.Q. young people in particular, banning transgender health care for minors and barring teachers from discussing gay and transgender topics in schools.