BOSTON (WHDH) - People flooded the streets of Boston Saturday afternoon for the Pride Parade.
The city kicked off Pride Week with the annual raising of the rainbow flag over City Hall Plaza on May 31.
This year’s theme is “Looking Back, Loving Forward.” Boston Pride says the theme represents the many challenges and victories of the LGBTQ community since the Stonewall Riots of 1969.
Survivors of the Stonewall Riots came to Boston this year to celebrate.
“The police were raiding a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn and for the first time in anybody’s memory, the patrons of that bar and the residents of Greenwich Village stood up and fought back and won,” said Dale Mitchell, a Stonewall Inn Riot Survivor.
A year after the riot marked Boston’s first Pride Parade.
This year’s parade featured a record 431 marching groups, including 54 floats, 35 motorcycles and 118 vehicles.
The route covers just over two miles, winding from Copley Square through the South End, Bay Village, Beacon Hill and ends with a festival at City Hall Plaza.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh says the annual event showcases Boston’s commitment to inclusion.
“We still have work to do. We still need to continue to support our brothers and sisters around the country and around the world,” he said. “But in Boston, Massachusetts, this is who we are. We’re an inclusive, open, safe city for anyone who wants to express themselves in our city.”
Walsh cut a ribbon to signify the start of the parade at noon.
Those who attended this year’s parade hope it brings more conversation and understanding.
“It’s opening up and broadening and we’re understanding each other more, we’re talking about it more,” said Kris Knievil, host of Jacques Cabaret. “Ask questions, politely, you can’t learn if you don’t ask.”
Next year will mark Boston’s 50th Pride Parade.
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