Dozens of elected officials came out to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community alongside City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) at the annual Pride Parade along 5th Avenue in Park Slope over the weekend.
Brooklyn Pride started in 1996 when several Brooklynites looked to create a new opportunity, whereby local organizations, businesses, friends and supporters of equal rights for all could come together in solidarity and celebration and bring visibility to the multi-cultural gay community in the borough, according to the organizations website.
The annual parade route starts at Lincoln Place and ends at 9th Street and 5th Avenue and featured more than a dozen floats and thousands of spectators along the route. Over the years, Brooklyn Pride has grown to become the largest and most prominent organization serving Brooklyn’s LGBTQIA+ community.
Johnson is the first openly-gay City Council Speaker and is the only HIV positive elected official in New York State.
Additionally, City Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) was the first openly gay New York City Council member from Brooklyn.
Every year, during the month of June, the LGBTQ+ community celebrates the influence and work of LGBTQ+ people around the world.
June is of particular importance because it was the month of the Stonewall Riots, that took place in 1969.
