Pride Parade

After the food and music of the Creole Tomato Fest and the fun spectacle of the Naked Bike Parade, we were ready for the festive and fabulous Pride Parade. Every year, the parade grows adding more dancers, floats and sponsors like Walgreen’s, Cox, Lyft, and Absolut. Bounce legend Big Freedia joined the LGBTQ groups, community organizations, churches and more rolling through the French Quarter.

Women’s March & Pussyfooter Blush Ball

Friday night, the Pussyfooters held their annual Blush Ball “party with a purpose” benefitting Metro Center for Women and Children. Our pink army of pink-corset, super-hero-inspired-uniform parade dancers raised $30,000 for victims of domestic violence. Saturday, people from our nation’s capitol to Antartica marched in support of equality for all. In New Orleans, there were so many families and children in the crowd. It was sunny and 80, though a giant storm flew through shortly after the parade. I saw a lot of love, plenty of patriotism and a bunch of foul language inspired by the language of the President. I laughed and cried, hugged friends and strangers and relived the 1978 ERA March on Washington, which I attended with my mother as a kid (included 2 photos). I’m discouraged to still be asking for equality for all, but it was a beautiful thing to see people wanting to take our country forward to a more inclusive future. The procession took over an hour to pass so I’ve decided to let the photos speak for the many voices marching to be heard and have left the photos mostly in the order they were shot so people can find themselves and friends.