“We are the ones you’ve been waiting for.”
That was the theme and rallying cry for this year’s Rockland Pride Sunday, which, as per usual, filled the streets with hundreds of brightly clad people (and the groups and families cheering them on), happily dancing their way through the streets of Nyack.
This year’s event, however, was also tinged with defiance against the anti-LGBTQ stances and policies of the Trump administration, as lohud’s wonderful Nancy Cutler reports.
The especially brought attention to the administration’s treatment of transgender soldiers and teenagers.
At one point, Rockland Pride Center Executive Director Brooke Malloy held up the microphone to a trans soldier who mom was in the crowd and talked about the discrimination he faced even though he’d excelled at his job for six and a half years.
Later, Valerie Silverman, a trans student and volleyball player at North Clarkstown talked about how she felt was being used as a political pawn by the Trump administration and would “fight” back against discrimination and bullying caused by the politicization of her identity.
The event turned overtly political when activists called out Congressman Mike Lawler, who has attended Pride events in the past but had scheduled a town hall on Sunday, for supporting Trump’s policies, including the latest spending bill, which includes provisions to strip away gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
Of course, our proudly picture-perfect photographer Andrea Swenson was on hand for Sunday’s always epic Nyack Pride parade for our latest Photo Shoot! (Scroll down for more photos and full slideshow)
Click on the arrows below to flip through all of Andrea’s photos. Enjoy the show!
See more of Andrea’s recent Photo Shoots here and find even more of her outstanding work on Instagram.
