Roughly 1 million people are expected to fill the streets of Boston Saturday for the city's first pride parade in four years.
The event is back, but the new organizers behind it are marching toward a new goal of making the parade as inclusive as possible.
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It will be the first pride parade since the pandemic, and since the Boston Pride group dissolved following complaints about diversity and inclusion. The new group that is organizing it is called Boston Pride for the People.
"We just started by thinking, 'How can we best serve the LGBTQ+ community?' and we're trying to plan an inclusive and really fun pride," said Jo Trigilio, vice-president of Boston Pride for the People.
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The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. Saturday and will feature close to 10,000 marchers. It starts in Copley Square and ends on the Boston Common.
"There will be glitter, sequins, unicorns, rainbows," Trijilio said. "It is just going to be so much fun."
The event will also feature two different festivals happening at the same time. The festival for all ages will happen on the Boston Common, and the one that is only for those over 21 will happen on Boston's City Hall Plaza.
Boston Pride for the People
Esmee Silverman will be on the Boston Common with the nonprofit Queer Youth Assemble. It is run by queer youth and aims to connect the queer youth community.
"We're going to have arts and crafts, lawn games, socializing activities and a whole closet where you can pick you own clothes," Silverman said.
The clothing for the community closet is coming from the organization Antonio Garcia started called Help by AMG. For him, the mission is personal.
"It was difficult for me to get clothing at one point. I went to a church and because my license still said female, they did not allow me to get pants. This allows people to get the clothes that make them feel authentically them," Garcia said.
Organizers are encouraging everyone to take public transportation if possible. Given the recent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, plenty of security will be on hand.
