Boston Pride parade returns in full color after three-year hiatus
A participant yells in excitement while holding up a rainbow umbrella. After a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, people filled the streets with excitement for Pride June 11.
June 18, 2023
This year’s Pride parade was the first since 2019, filling Boston’s streets with excitement and anticipation.
Formerly organized by Boston Pride, the organization dissolved in 2021 after criticism from members within the community concerning the lack of inclusion of transgender people and racial minorities.
Now, the parade has finally returned under the management of Boston Pride for the People, or BP4TP, a group whose mission is to empower, celebrate, educate and commemorate LGBTQ+ people and QTBIPOC, or Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, activists.
At around 11 a.m. June 11, approximately 1 million people watched 10,000 participants as the parade made its way from Copley Square to Boston Common, ending amid the Boston Pride Festival.
Spectators cheered as participants passed, often drowning out music that parade groups were playing.
The parade included LGBTQ+ student groups, employee resource groups, community groups, politicians and individuals. Participating groups ranged from Santander to the National Parks of Boston, collectively representing the LGBTQ+ community in Boston and Massachusetts.
Participants also handed out promotional items to spectators ranging from stickers to condoms.
At the Pride Festival, tents were set up dedicated to various shops and organizations and headliner Madison Rose, a queer Black pop artist, performed along with local artists and performers on the main stage. People danced to music, got their faces painted, purchased food and relaxed in the grass.
This year’s Pride celebrations happened against the backdrop of national and state turmoil over LGBTQ+ rights and corporate boycotts during and leading up to Pride Month. Target, Bud Light and Chick-fil-a are just some of the companies that have faced boycotts by conservative groups over pride related merchandise, marketing, or the perception of “going woke.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ bills have increased in public discourse and passage over the past few years, with the American Civil Liberties Union currently tracking 491 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the United States. The parade, with its unrestrained enthusiasm for Pride and large attendance, visualizes the support of LGBTQ+ people in resistance to that legislation.
Pride events in Boston and Massachusetts are continuing throughout June, from Pride Paint Nite to the 2nd Annual Revere Beach Pride. A list can be found here.
