h. nazan ışık—
28 June 2015—
It started as a rainy morning today, but it didn’t stop spectators from gathering at Fifth Avenue to watch the Gay Pride.
It is a very important week for the LGBT community and supporters. On Friday the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, and young, old everybody was there to celebrate the Supreme Court decision.
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“Love has no labels”, “We are free”, “Love wins” “Equality” signs were everywhere.
Same-sex kissing couples were demonstrating that “Love has no labels” as the placards were saying.
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A married same-sex couple, on the top of a giant wedding cake, was waving to spectators and kissing, every time people shouted “kiss, kiss”.
They were not the only ones kissing.
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Some couples were kissing privately on the sidewalks, and just enjoying the moment.
There was this huge rainbow flag covering the almost whole avenue. I don’t know how many people were carrying it. It was big. When they lifted up the reflection of colours on the road was like a painting.
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The rain stopped and let the sun shine create a beautiful reflection of the rainbow flag.
I saw two ladies wearing white T-shirts “I love my wife” written on them. Actually “love” wasn’t a word, it was just a rainbow coloured heart shape. Then I saw a younger person; her T-shirt was saying “My mothers”. That caught my attention.
They posed for me. Younger one stood in between ladies. Her “My mothers” message was completed with two arrows pointing two ladies.
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Three ladies weren’t carrying big signs, big flags but their very quiet, very simple message let us know that they were a family.
Rainbow colours were everywhere. Flags, umbrellas, dresses, belts, sacks, beads, painted faces, and wigs were only some of the things stayed in my memory.
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A young person wearing a rainbow wig gave me a big smile.
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Everybody was in a hand touching, sharing, celebrating mood.
Same-sex marriage pioneer Edie Windsor was there too.
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On the corner of 5th Avenue and 8th Street, one of the judging and announcers locations, Edie Windsor was standing, talking to celebrants and weaving to them.
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People were showing their respect for her by sending kisses and weaving back to her.
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Not only spectators were enjoying the parade but also police officers and even a dog.
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If was possible to see every kind of dresses. Some had one piece in one colour.
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Some seemed to prefer not wearing much,
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And some had a very eye-catching long costume with a lot of accessories
It was definitely a very colourful day.
Photos © h. nazan ışık, All rights reserved.
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