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Boston Pride and ‘No Kings’ protest: Must-see moments
“I’m here to say ‘No kings!’ and also ‘Yes, queens!’"
As President Donald Trump holds a military parade in Washington, D.C. today to mark the Army’s 250th anniversary and his 79th birthday, Boston is holding a very different kind of celebration.
Alongside Saturday’s Boston Pride for the People Parade, local groups are using the occasion to speak out against what they describe as an increasingly authoritarian federal government.
Nationwide “No Kings” protests coincide with Trump’s birthday and military display to speak out against what organizers describe as an increasingly authoritarian federal government.
“America has no kings, and that was a decision made by our founding fathers,” Rebecca Winter, a leader with Mass 50501, told Boston.com. “This is a chance for the American people to stand up and reiterate, ‘America has no kings.’ We will not be governed by a tyrant.”
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Mass 50501, which launched in February of this year, stands for “50 states, 50 protests, one movement.” The group is volunteer run, non-partisan, and committed to nonviolence, according to their website. In partnership with Indivisible Mass Coalition, the groups are official sponsors of this year’s Pride festivities. They’ve integrated the “No Kings” message into the broader celebration—playfully rebranding it as “No Kings, but Yaaas Queen!”
“Considering that today is also the same day that President Trump is throwing himself a ridiculously expensive military parade, we thought that it’s a perfect juxtaposition for us to be at our own parade in our own community, uplifting a population that he is actively trying to erase right now,” Winter said.
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Members from Mass 50501 and other local groups marched in the parade that traveled from Copley Square to the Boston Common.
Organizers estimated that Saturday’s turnout could exceed 1.5 million, potentially making it the “largest Pride that Boston has ever seen.”
Below, check out the must-see moments from the Boston Pride parade and festival.
No Kings, but Yaaas Queens!
Despite the rainy weather and blustery wind, Boston’s annual Pride parade was a vibrant celebration of LGBTQ+ identity and a powerful act of political resistance.
The parade kicked off in Copley Square with high-energy, a sea of rainbow flags, and a powerful message: No Kings, but Yaaas Queens!
Friends Molly Steinkrauss and Laura Sullivan attended the Parade together, each holding posters with the slogan to protest President Donald Trump’s military display and celebrate LGBTQ+ people in the process.
“I love this country and I hate what Trump is doing to this country, whether it’s taking away the rights of the media, public broadcasting, immigrants, you name it,” Steinkrauss said. “I’m here to say ‘No kings!’ and also ‘Yes, queens!’ because it’s also Pride.”
‘Everything that’s important is on the line.’
Spectators lined the parade route with signs that celebrated love and equality, as well as those in protest against the Trump administration and his policies.
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“We’re here to stand up for people who are being discriminated against, especially marginalized people. And we’re here to protest Trump and authoritarianism,” Claire Bieber of Michigan said from underneath a rainbow umbrella.
Her brother, Aidan, stood next to her, proudly holding a Pride sign in support of queer and trans people: “Queer and trans people have and always will exist.”
The “No Kings” movement, which organized over 2,000 protests nationwide, was a response to what participants viewed as President Trump’s authoritarian policies.
Myrna Gutfreund was among the Boston crowd who attended the parade not just to support Pride but to protest the trajectory of the country, which she said is “being destroyed.”
“I just can’t sit back and let everything that I love – this country that I love – turn into something that I can’t fathom,” spectator Myrna Gutfreund said. “Everything that’s important is on the line.”
Pride is personal – and political
For others, the parade was personal. Marnie Kaplan-Earle, a Montessori teacher, said she was inspired by the school’s tenets – and by her children – to attend the event in support of LGBTQ+ rights.
“One of the tenets of our teaching is to create citizens who are compassionate and accountable and ethical and have integrity, so that they can be leaders and serve in the next generation. I’ve got a non-binary kid, another queer kid, and lots and lots of little students who we want to make sure they’re coming into a world where they can be their whole selves,” she said.
Participants in the parade marched from Copley toward Boston Common in party vans, trolleys, and on foot, all the while waving rainbow flags, giving out candy and beaded necklaces to spectators, and blasting high-octane music.
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At the Common, “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge played from a stage near the which hosted performances by local groups, such as the funk and disco band, Booty Vortex.
Festivities continue on the Common through 6 p.m., with a 21-plus block party at City Hall Plaza running from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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