SHOWING OUR PRIDE

The last two weeks have presented our country with several truly sad event's, the most heinous of which was the shooting at Pulse Bar in Orlando. That shooting took the lives of 49 people, and presented us with the largest number of deaths since 9/11. The harder fact is that it was a shooting targeted against a particular group - the LGBTQ community.

Loring Park is the perfect setting for the Pride celebration.

Photo opps at the Delta Airline booth.

One of the local grocers even made rainbow cupcakes to celebrate.

The weekend of the Orlando murders was made even sadder with the news that a man was stopped on his way to the PRIDE celebration in Los Angeles with a car full of weapons. Just one week after those two horrific events, people gathered to celebrate the annual Pride Festival in Minneapolis.

The rooftop at the Union Restaurant . . .

. . . Was the perfect place to watch the parade.

Neighboring rooftops.

The crowd filled the rooftop.

The rooftop tickets included breakfast.

Once again roughly 400,000 people attended the event held in Loring Park. The two day festival provided music on several stages in the park, along with hundreds of vendors, and a Pride Parade down Hennepin Avenue.

The crowd started lining the street early.

Bottomless virgin bloody marys for me.

The Pride flag leads the parade.

There was a moment of silence as the "Remember Orlando" folks passed by.

The beauty of the celebration this year is that it focused on peace, while remembering the victims of the Orlando shooting. The crowd fell silent as marchers carrying signs with the victim's photos walked by. It was a truly moving moment.  Participant in this year's festival, refused to hide, and become complacent victims. Instead, LGBTQ individuals and Allies alike, came out in droves to stand in solidarity with the greater community throughout the country. 

Some of my friends were recipients of one of the Pride awards.

One of the local car dealerships . . . 

. . . Painted their cars to match the Pride flags.

I love the rainbow balloon people.

More of my "award winning" friends in the parade.

The festival hosts over 400,000 people each year.

During this difficult time in history, when so many are once again finding it difficult to except a particular group of people, it's truly moving to see and experience the volume of support found here in Minneapolis. That support is greatly appreciated!


***Did you take part in Pride celebrations in your area this year?