More than a million people filled Manhattan on Sunday for the largest annual Pride parade in North America \u2014 while LGBTQ cops turned out in droves to protest from the sidelines.<\/p>\n
As revelers dressed in glitter, drag and other festive attire packed the streets surrounding the downtown parade route, the officers were furious that they are still barred from marching<\/a> in their NYPD uniforms.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a tremendous amount of courage to be out. It takes an even more tremendous amount of courage to be out in uniform,\u201d said NYPD Detective Brian Downey, president of the Gay Officers Action League.<\/p>\n More than a million people pack the streets of downtown Manhattan for this year\u2019s Pride parade. Michael Nigro<\/p>\n But the party remained uninterrupted for the throngs of sanctioned participants as the parade snaked through Madison Square Park, down Fifth Avenue, through Greenwich Village and up Seventh Avenue \u2014 with rainbow flags and smiles flying from start to finish.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m out here making sure our voices are loud and proud and heard. It\u2019s more important now than ever,\u201d said 30-year-old Audacity Mansfield, who wore a \u201cMr. Gay New Jersey\u201d sash won at a pageant earlier this month.<\/p>\n NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch (third from left) joins queer officers protesting after they were barred from marching in uniform. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t have pride, then we don\u2019t really have anything,\u201d Mansfield said. \u201cIf we can\u2019t be proud of who we are or if we can\u2019t be proud of our community, what are we out here for?\u201d <\/p>\n This year\u2019s parade fell on the 10th anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage in the US and also commemorated the 1969 Stonewall riots \u2014 which helped spark the country\u2019s gay-rights movement \u2014 with the theme \u201cRise Up: Pride in Protest.\u201d<\/p>\n But one part of the queer community that was left out of the festivities for the fifth year in a row were uniformed LGBTQ NYPD officers who were told by organizers they couldn\u2019t march in their blues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will not be erased,\u201d read signs carried by cops watching from the sidelines, along with others reading, \u201cLet gay cops back into march,\u201d and, \u201cOur uniform is our protest.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the NYPD controversy, the parade is filled with joy and smiles as people turn out in droves to celebrate. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n