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U.S. NEWS Monday 26 June 2017
Gay Pride Appeals, the state’s high- Zhane Smith-Garris, 20, Ol-

Continued from page est court. Feinman is the ivia Rengifo, 19 and Sierra
first openly gay judge to Dias, 20, all black women
hold the position. from New Jersey, said they
Activists have been galled But the pride celebrations did not feel there was in-
by the Trump administra- also faced some resis- equality in the movement.
tion’s rollback of federal tance from within the LGBT “Pride is for gay people in
guidance advising school community itself. Some ac- general,” Dias said.
districts to let transgender tivists feel the events cen- There were scattered
students use the bathrooms ter on gay white men and counter protests and a
and locker rooms of their are unconcerned with is- few disruptions, including
choice. The Republican sues including economic a small group in New York
president also broke from inequality and policing. urging parade-goers to
Democratic predecessor The divide disrupted some “repent for their sins.” But
Barack Obama’s practice other pride events this most attending were uni-
of issuing a proclamation month. The No Justice fied in celebration and in
in honor of Pride Month. No Pride group blocked standing up against a pres-
At the jam-packed New the Washington parade’s idential administration they
York City parade, a few route, and four protesters find unsupportive.
attendees wore “Make were arrested at the pa- “This year, especially, it’s
America Gay Again” hats, rade in Columbus, Ohio. a bit of a different atmo-
while one group walking In Minneapolis, organiz- sphere,” said Grace Cook,
silently in the parade wore ers of Sunday’s Twin Cities a 17-year-old from subur-
“Black Lives Matter” shirts Pride Parade initially asked ban Chicago who noted
as they held up signs with the police department to the more political tone in
a fist and with a rainbow limit its participation, with this year’s parade, includ- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, bottom center, marches dur-
background, a symbol for the chairwoman saying ing at least one anti-Trump ing the New York City Pride Parade on Sunday, June 25, 2017,
gay pride. Still others pro- the sight of uniformed of- float.q in New York.
tested potential cuts to ficers could foster “angst Associated Press
heath care benefits, de- and tension and the feel-
claring that “Healthcare is ing of unrest” after a subur-
an LGBT issue.” ban officer’s acquittal this
“I think this year is even month in the deadly shoot-
more politically charged, ing of Philando Castile, a
even though it was always black man, during a traffic
a venue where people stop.
used it to express their po- The city’s openly gay po-
litical perspectives,” said lice chief called the deci-
Joannah Jones, 59, from sion divisive and hurtful to
New York with her wife LGBT officers. On Friday,
Carol Phillips. organizers apologized and
She said the parade being said the officers were wel-
televised for the first time come to march.
gives people a wider au- But anti-police protesters
dience. “Not only to edu- disrupted the parade with
cate people in general chants of: “No justice, no
on the diversity of LGBTQ peace, no pride in police”
community but also to see and carried signs reading
how strongly we feel about “Justice for Philando” and
what’s going on in office.” “Black Lives Matter.”
In Chicago, 23-year-old Meanwhile, pride march
Sarah Hecker was attend- organizers have taken
ing her first pride parade, steps to address the criti-
another event that attract- cisms about diversity.
ed wall-to-wall crowds. Protesters for “Black Lives
“I felt like this would be a Matter” also delayed the
way to not necessarily reb- start of the Seattle parade,
el, but just my way to show parade-goers said.
solidarity for marginalized “The pride celebration is a
people in trying times,” platform for that dialogue
said Hecker, a marketing to happen,” San Francis-
consultant who lives in sub- co Pride board president
urban Chicago. Michelle Meow said this
Elected officials also made week. The large “resis-
a stand, among them New tance contingent” leading
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, San Francisco’s parade in-
who said his state would cludes groups that repre-
continue to lead on equal- sent women, immigrants,
ity. Cuomo, a Democrat, African-Americans and
on Sunday formally ap- others along with LGBT
pointed Paul G. Feinman people.
to the New York Court of New York parade-goers