Queens Pride Parade lights up Jackson Heights

[00:00:00]Visibility is the key word here at the Queens Pride Parade. Walking down 37th Avenue, I met so many people who are so incredibly proud of the lives that they're living, but also the family from which they came, their chosen family, and in many cases the families that they are creating.

[00:00:19]>> We have a family. That's our daughter over there. We're marching. We're all marching. We're married.

[00:00:23]>> Congratulations.

[00:00:24]>> Yeah, we we got married in New York in in in Central Park.

[00:00:28]>> Yes.

[00:00:28]>> Did you How many years have you been married?

[00:00:30]>> We've been married over 12 years.

[00:00:33]>> And I love them so much.

[00:00:39]>> Did you pick this out yourself?

[00:00:40]>> I did. I did.

[00:00:42]>> And so what's the inspiration?

[00:00:43]>> What is that? Something sparkly.

[00:00:45]I'm Candy Samples. I'm one of the grand marshals this year.

[00:00:48]>> Is that right? So what does it mean to be a grand marshal for the Queens Pride Parade?

[00:00:52]>> Well, listen, a a little drag queen like me from Stone Mountain, Georgia can come here and fit in in the most culturally diverse county in the country. How wonderful.

[00:01:03]>> What makes Queens Pride so special?

[00:01:04]>> Queens is the most diverse borough.

[00:01:06]>> It's also you get to see yourself in other people as well. So it's like if you don't have like your own sense of community, you can always see it in others and go find it yourself.

[00:01:13]>> Because you know, when you get to see other gay people, you find that courage to like go out there and express yourself.

[00:01:17]>> [cheering] >> I am here today to march alongside members of the NYPD's Gay Officer Action League in the Queens Pride Parade. Their decision stands in stark contrast to that of the organizers of Heritage of Pride, which has once again banned NYPD officers from marching in full uniform later this month.

[00:01:46]>> What's the inspiration for all of this?

[00:01:48]>> I used to be quite ashamed of being gay and not like it when people in public knew that about me. So I thought, "Screw that."

[00:01:55]And then you go.

[00:01:58]>> Back in the day and like men would be in the bars and you would say like you know are you a friend of Dorothy? And that's how you would know that someone was a queer individual because you couldn't outwardly say I'm gay and you know, you could get arrested for it.

[00:02:10]>> [music] >> Remember Queens is just the first pride march. Next up we have Brooklyn, the Bronx, Harlem, and of course the biggie, New York City Pride later this month. In Jackson Heights, Duarte Geraldino, PIX11 News.