New Yorkers came out in force Sunday to celebrate the annual LGBTQ march, covering the city with rainbow flags.
Rodrigo Sanchez, 37, said it was particularly important to come out this year and show support, because President Donald Trump's administration hasn't been friendly to the gay and transgender communities.
“Having these moments and being with the people, I think that really helps and gives people hope,” he said. “I just hope that people take it and continue to build their love and empathy and compassion for everyone.”
This was the 49th Heritage of Pride March, observing the riots that happened after a 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn gay bar in Greenwich Village.
Marchers walked past the AIDS memorial in the Village that the city unveiled in 2016 to honor more than 100,000 New Yorkers who died of AIDS. Omari Peterson, 50, said he's moved by the memorial because AIDS was so prevalent when he was younger.
“I was losing a friend every week,” he said. "So just the fact that we are passing by that for this celebration, I feel is a homage to them, because we are celebrating everything that is our community.”
A New York memorial to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people honoring victims of intolerance was unveiled Sunday in Manhattan's Hudson River Park. Its nine boulders include pieces of glass that can act as prisms and reflect rainbows in sunlight. It was designed by artist Anthony Goicolea, of Brooklyn.
"The LGBTQ memorial tries to create a new safe space - a new safe haven," he said. "I designed it to look out onto the Christopher Street piers and towards the Statue of Liberty."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo formed a commission to come up with a new memorial after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
Also on Sunday, Cuomo said he's issuing regulations to protect 90,000 transgender New Yorkers from discrimination by health care providers and insurers. Under the Affordable Care Act, sex discrimination, including discrimination based on gender identity, isn’t allowed. But the Trump administration wants to roll back that rule.
Cuomo said all state hospitals will need to update their statements of patients' rights to prohibit discrimination against transgender patients.
As the Pride march got going, Cuomo's challenger in the Democratic primary for Governor, Cynthia Nixon, and her wife received a warm welcome from attendees and marchers.