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Participants wave flags as they take part in the LGBTQ Pride march, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Holding a clear sign, Kaylah Denton, 15, of Poughkeepsie, New York, center, watches the LGBTQ Pride march, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Tina Cole, holding "50" balloons, sits behind her wife, Joann Bertone, as they drive down New York's Fifth Avenue during the LGBTQ Pride march, Sunday, June 30, 2019. The couple are from Jackson, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Fireworks, one in the shape of a heart, light up the sky over the Hudson River and the Pride Island concert venue, lower center left, part of the Stonewall 50 and World Pride festivities, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, representatives from Key West, Fla., carry a 100-foot-long rainbow flag Sunday, June 30, 2019, during the LGBTQ Pride march in New York. The flag is a section of a 1.25-mile long rainbow flag unfurled in Key West in 2003 to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the iconic LGBTQ banner conceived by the late Gilbert Baker. Sunday's march highlighted events marking five decades of pride following the 1969 Stonewall Inn police raid that sparked the modern-day gay rights movement. (Jonathan Atkin/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

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In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, representatives from Key West, Fla., carry a 100-foot-long rainbow flag Sunday, June 30, 2019, during the LGBTQ Pride march in New York. The flag is a section of a 1.25-mile long rainbow flag unfurled in Key West in 2003 to mark the 25th anniversary of the creation of the iconic LGBTQ banner conceived by the late Gilbert Baker. Sunday's march highlighted events marking five decades of pride following the 1969 Stonewall Inn police raid that sparked the modern-day gay rights movement. (Jonathan Atkin/Florida Keys News Bureau via AP)

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Elaine McWilliams, foreground second from right, and her wife, Christina McWillams, foreground right, react as they watch the LGBTQ Pride march, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York. The couple are from Brentwood, New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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A rainbow of colored balloons is carried by participants during the LGBTQ Pride march, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Spectators react as the LBGTQ Pride march makes its way along Christopher Street in New York, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Parade participants walk in the 2019 San Francisco Pride parade, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (Josie Norris/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

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Spectators react as the LBGTQ Pride march makes its way along Christopher Street in New York, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)

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Isabel Samaras fans herself at Civic Center Plaza during the San Francisco Pride parade in San Francisco, Sunday, June 30, 2019. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

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Presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris waves to parade attendees during the San Francisco Pride parade, Sunday, June 30, 2019, in San Francisco. (Josie Norris/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

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Parade-goers pose for photographs on the streets during the LBGTQ Pride march on Sunday, June 30, 2019, in New York, to celebrate five decades of LGBTQ pride, marking the 50th anniversary of the police raid that sparked the modern-day gay rights movement. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Epic! New York's Pride parade lasted over 12 hours

By Associated Press New York State

PUBLISHED 9:39 AM ET Jul. 01, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — Crowds and rainbow colors filled New York City streets for possibly the largest parade in the history of the gay rights movement, a dazzling celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the infamous police raid on the Stonewall Inn.

New York's Pride march, which involved an estimated 150,000 marchers in 677 marching contingents, ended around 12:30 a.m. Monday, 12½ hours after it began, police said. Some groups waited nine hours or more just to start marching.

Marchers and onlookers took over much of midtown Manhattan with a procession that paid tribute to the uprising that began at the tavern when patrons resisted officers on June 28, 1969.

Eraina Clay, 63, of suburban New Rochelle, New York, came to celebrate a half-century of fighting for equality.

"Everybody should be able to have the chance to enjoy their lives and be who they are," Clay said. "I have a family. I raised kids. I'm just like everybody else."

"We've come so far in the past 20 years," said 55-year-old Gary Piper, who came from Kansas to celebrate Pride with his partner. "I remember friends who would be snatched off the streets in Texas for dressing in drag. They'd have to worry about being persecuted for their identity.

"But now we're so much more accepted. I'm not saying we don't have a ways to go, but let's celebrate how far we've come," he said.

Other cities around the U.S. and the world also marked the occasion with big Pride parades.

In San Francisco, about 40 people interrupted the parade for about an hour and two people were arrested while protesting police and corporation presence.

In Chicago, the city's first openly gay mayor was one of seven grand marshals. Lori Lightfoot walked alongside her wife and wore a "Chicago Proud" T-shirt.

In Turkey, police dispersed activists who gathered in Istanbul on Sunday to promote rights for gay and transgender people. Turkish authorities had banned the Pride event for the fifth year.

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Find complete AP Stonewall anniversary coverage here: https://apnews.com/Stonewallat50

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