Pride Parade ’empowering’ according to students

Joshua Ceballos/Assistant News Director

Miami’s 10th annual Pride Parade and Festival hit Miami Beach on Sunday, April 8, with a fireworks display and several musical performances.

Pride is an eight day event held in Miami Beach each year to celebrate the LGBTQ+ population and culture in South Florida and the world. The parade, which began the final day of the Pride celebration, occurred between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., and featured floats sponsored by businesses and organizations such as Univision and some LGBTQ+ groups.

Ana Lydia Gomez, a junior majoring in English, arrived to the parade an hour late but said  it was still going on in full force with beautiful floats, loud music, and crowds of LGBTQ+ people coming together.

Gomez told Student Media that she had been to Pride once before, and what struck her this year was the presence of young people at the parade.

“I saw a lot of high school students this year, a lot of young lesbians and gay men, and that made me very proud to see them taking pride in their sexuality early on,” said Gomez. “It made me wonder why my generation took so long to accept themselves.”

Something important about Pride, according to sophomore hospitality student Juliana Varela, is the amount of fun and energy there is for not only LGBTQ+ people, but also heterosexual allies.

“This is my third year going and I think this year was my favorite so far. The energy was amazing and I was screaming as loud as I could for literally the entire parade,” said Varela. “My friend’s boyfriend went for the first time this year and he had the best time. It’s really an event for any age/race/gender. It’s such a fun, heartwarming experience. It sucks that it only comes once a year [in Miami]”

The parade and its subsequent celebration, the Pride Festival, are instances that allow LGBTQ+ individuals to discover themselves and to flip the perspective on their sexualities from something negative to something that should be celebrated, according to freshman psychology major Alyssa Baron.

“I really enjoyed Pride. My sexuality has been something that I’ve felt ashamed of and uncomfortable with for years, but Pride put my sexuality in a new light where loving someone of the same gender is not only something not to be ashamed of, but something to be proud of,” said Baron. “I’m really glad I got to go, and I plan to go every year from now on.”

 

Feature Image retrieved from Flickr.

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