As Pride Month concludes, major U.S. cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, and Minneapolis are hosting vibrant parades and marches today, June 29, 2025, blending celebration with protest. New York’s march, the nation’s oldest and largest, features over 700 groups parading down Fifth Avenue, passing the Stonewall Inn, a national monument where the 1969 uprising sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. San Francisco’s event, one of the world’s largest, marches along Market Street to Civic Center Plaza, with post-march festivities at City Hall.
This year’s celebrations carry a defiant tone, with themes like “Rise Up: Pride in Protest” in New York, “Queer Joy is Resistance” in San Francisco, and “Louder” in Seattle, reflecting resistance against rollbacks in LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for transgender communities. Organizers note challenges, including a 20% drop in corporate sponsorship in New York (e.g., PepsiCo, Nissan) and five major sponsors (e.g., Comcast, Anheuser-Busch) pulling back in San Francisco, signaling a broader retreat from diversity initiatives.
