![gay pride orlando florida 2016 gay pride orlando florida 2016](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/474746/06-26-pride-02.jpg)
I think this was kind of the overall theme of the parade was love and joy and being who you are and being proud of who you are. Also, I would say the other thing I noticed was to a person, a sense of humor about sort of life in general. GREGORY: You know, I think there was a sense of camaraderie. Did you notice anything different about the people who come? Was it different this year than past years? MARTIN: Nina, as you mentioned, you covered this parade for several years now.
![gay pride orlando florida 2016 gay pride orlando florida 2016](http://thenewswheel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/NYPD-Pride-Patrol-SUV.jpg)
But it's so good that the community comes together. I woke up this morning getting messages, trying to find out where Drew was. And he told me the attacks in Orlando for him really hit close to home.ĬHAD ROBERTS: One of my friends, Drew (ph), is still unaccounted for.
![gay pride orlando florida 2016 gay pride orlando florida 2016](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2016/07/16/Rochester/Rochester/636042851203016859-Pride-6.jpg)
You know, and there was one parade-goer in particular that really kind of stuck with me. MARTIN: Did you get a chance to talk to any of the parade-goers about how they felt about today's events? And of course, they have a lot of employees in Orlando, so that was particularly touching. And they had a big float shaped like a castle that was just cascading with balloons and dancers blaring, you know, self-affirming Disney anthems. For example, Disney had - it's their second time being in this parade. But there were a lot of people on the sidelines, and most interesting was the people who were in the parade, I thought. Now, I don't know if that's just the maturity of the parade or the events that happened this morning in Florida. GREGORY: Well, you know, I've been to this parade over the years, and it did feel a bit more subdued today. MARTIN: So tell us about the scene there today. Nina, thanks so much for speaking with us. NPR's Nina Gregory was at the parade and joins us now from NPR West. Today in West Hollywood, Calif., thousands marched through a city that is a center of gay life in Southern California. Perhaps the most visible events are pride parades. Ilan Assayag Heavy security accompanied Ashdod's gay pride parade on Friday, June 17, 2016.Today's attack in Orlando comes as Americans across the country are celebrating LGBT Pride Month. MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) addresses the crowd at Ashdod's gay pride parade on Friday, June 17, 2016. Many singers and other performers attended the event with even some television stars from abroad. Some 200,000 people participated in Tel Aviv's gay pride parade at the beginning of June, including some 35,000 tourists. There is lots of homophobia and there aren't funds or much motivation for education and change." Hadar, a participant in the event, said that "they try to paint a rosy picture that Israel is a receptive place and accepts the other, and they use the march in Tel Aviv to this end, but there are a lot of sinkholes for the community in the periphery. It's time that we are acknowledged, that the trans in Ashdod and the pansexuals in Hadera are acknowledged together with the gays in Tel Aviv and the lesbians in Ramat Gan."
![gay pride orlando florida 2016 gay pride orlando florida 2016](https://bungalower.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/facebook_event_157888811288125.jpg)
"Either way, together and united, we fight for recognition. "The bi-pan-poly community often has to remind community members, especially those in Tel Aviv, that we exist," said Nodelman. Marchers in Ashdod's gay pride parade on Friday, June 17, 2016.