Organizers of San Francisco’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade–just called “Pride”–expect 1 million merrymakers to bask in euphoria on Sunday.
Pride anticpates that 240 groups will march in the parade side by side with 30 LGBTQ floats. NBC4 reported that the parade is the largest in its history.
The two-day celebration takes place at Civic Center Plaza in downtown San Francisco on the last full weekend of June each year. The 2015 parade marks the 45th anniversary of the San Francisco Pride Celebration and Parade. The theme is “Equality Without Exception.”
Celebrities endorsing the event are a concoction of NBA sports figures and social activists. The parade’s grand marshal is Rick Welts, president of NBA champions the Golden State Warriors. Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, and Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the landmark same-sex marriage suit decided by the U.S. Supreme Court are both scheduled to speak.
“Every trailer in Nevada and California has been rented and brought in, including one from a farm in Northern California,” said Gary Virginia, board president of San Francisco Pride. “I just think it’s going to be magical this year.”
In case anyone just crawled out of a bunker or awoke today from a coma, the added frenzy to this year’s pride parades is spurred by Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriage is now legal across the United States.
New York City director of NYC Pride, David Studninski, also expects a big turnout for the Big Apple.New York City expects 2 million people to join the gay pride march festivities throughout the day.
The director uttered some ominous words for Americans who believe that religious liberties may be thrust on to the same chopping block as traditional marriage.
“It’s going to be an epic weekend,” Studninski exhorted. “I actually just wrote on Twitter that this is the most historic Pride march since the first. The event is considered a march,” Studinski said, “because the movement still has much to accomplish.”