New York City's Gay Pride Parade 2007

Meaning Amid the Madness

A good portion of the world gathered in New York City today both to be participators in and spectators of the 2007 Gay Pride Parade. The celebration was highly energized and goodwill and good humor vibrated Fifth Avenue from 50^th Street in Midtown all the way to Christopher Street downtown.

Floats that one might expect at a Gay Pride Parade decorated the avenue such as: Gay Male S&M Activists (complete with whips and chains), GLEE, AMFAR, ACT UP, Trojan, Glaad, Lambda Legal, and NYC Gay Men's Chorus. Speedos, shaking bare behinds, young men with their pants down around their knees wearing bikini undies, and a man dressed as a huge green penis acting out fornication with a gal bouncing balloon boobs with big red nipples satisfied the crowd's shock expectations.

Many prominent businesses and organizations such as Verizon, Google StarBucks, JP Morgan Chase, Macy's, ACLU, NYPD, and FDNY participated in the hoopla along with local bars, radio stations, realtors and just about every type of business imaginable. They contributed an array of floats blaring eclectic lively music and dirty dancers baring almost all.

The "Males au Naturel" voiced their sentiments with signs that read, "Nude isn't Lewd, If I can Naked Here, I'll Naked Anywhere, and Viva la de Nudiste Revolution." Other than strategically placed signs, and in some cases shoes, they were males entirely au naturel and real crowd pleasers when they marched in place.

Amid the music-blaring floats, strutting drag queens, flowing costumes, bouncing bare butts, twirling purple umbrellas, floating bubbles and balloon rainbows serious statements were made. Sentiments such as "Fight HIV, proud to be homeless, proud to be sick, get vaccinated for hepatitis A & B, and Cures not Wars" resonated through the air along with pro-gay marriage and adoption rights, pro-condom, anti-circumcision, and anti-war statements to name a few.