Harmless joke or propaganda fuel?

Revelers at New York City’s Pride Parade on Sunday sounded off on a controversial chant by LGBTQ activists — with some saying the shouts of “We’re here! We’re queer! We’re coming for your children!” could spark more anti-gay hate.

The chant — yelled Friday at the annual Drag March in the East Village — was seen as a misguided joke by some parade attendees, who wondered whether it hurt the cause more than it helped.

“I don’t think it was the right group or the right time to make a joke (about that),” said Angela Ghiozzo, a mom from Cold Spring, NY, who went to the parade with her son, Matthew Pocarillo, who came out 12 years ago.

“They’re in danger every day,” Ghiozzo told The Post, referencing recent attacks on drag shows and the gay community as a whole. “They’re bullied, they’re harassed, they’re beaten, they’re killed. And that’s not the right time to make a joke. I don’t know what the purpose was, I don’t know what their mindset was. But it’s just adding fuel to the fire.”

But others were more cavalier, and dismissed the chant as a harmless jab at anti-gay activists who falsely accuse those in the LGBTQ community of being pedophiles and child “groomers.”

Some were upset when members of the annual Drag March on Friday chanted that they were “coming for your children.”
Erik McGregor/Sipa USA

Revelers at the Drag March.
At the NYC Pride March, many revelers dismissed the chant as a harmless jab at anti-gay activists.
Erik McGregor/Sipa USA

“It’s all in good fun,” said Kelly Autorina, a longtime parade veteran who called herself a “huge supporter” of drag. “If you’re taking it like that, then that’s a you problem. Not an us problem.”

Still, neither the controversy, nor the humid, rainy weather could put a damper on the NYC Pride March’s spectacle.

Nearly two million rainbow-bedecked revelers of all ages flooded Manhattan streets, cheering as the thousands-strong procession of folks and floats marched by in the largest celebration of its kind in North America.


A cheerleader waves a multicolored flag over her head.
The spectacle draws millions to the Big Apple’s streets in the biggest celebration of its kind in North America.
Stephen Yang

A dog wears a rainbow flag while marching at the 2023 NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 25, 2023
Pups joined the fun on Sunday, carrying rainbow flags and wearing Pride shirts.
Corey Sipkin/UPI/Shutterstock

A woman's earrings that say, "Gay" in rainbow colors.
The pride march regularly draws more than 2 million spectators.
Stephen Yang

Local politicians such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams also participated in the march, which is now in its 53rd year and commemorates the June 1969 riots at Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn that sparked the movement for LGBTQ rights.

Sidewalk vendors hawked rainbow flags and rainbow afros, while West Village businesses dangled rainbow necklaces in their windows to show support.


A reveler waves a rainbow flag.
Tens of thousands of people march in the annual parade.
Stephen Yang

A nearly-naked man walks down the parade rout,
The march commemorates the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village – which was widely considered the birth of the gay rights movement.
AFP via Getty Images

The smell of marijuana and sweat hung thick in the muggy air as rainbow-laden dogs dressed in Pride shirts and colorful flowers on their ears bounded down the street.

Music was everywhere, and excited revelers even cheered for the New York Public Library reps who yelled to the crowd that “anyone can read.”

Several spectators told The Post that even if they didn’t agree with Friday’s chant, it wasn’t their place to condemn it.


A parade goer wears a red dress as he marches down the parade rout.
Flamboyant, flashy costumers are par for the course.
Stephen Yang

A woman with a rainbow flag around her head.
Many said the drag march chant didn’t bother them.
Stephen Yang

Two men kiss at the NYC Pride March.
Some wondered if the chant hurt more than it helped, however.
Stephen Yang

“I’m not gonna tell drag queens how to behave,” said Alan Amtzis, a 68-year-old New Jersey man who wore a beaded headdress and a pink shirt that said, “Bronx Queen.”

“Do I think it was a funny joke? Maybe not. But I’m not offended by it,” Amtzis said. “I think it was not a smart choice, because the people who are from the conservative right, they’re just going to use any opportunity to besmirch. If you wanna go by statistics, most pedophiles are not drag queens.”

The chant had incensed conservatives, who condemned the marchers as video of them taken in Tompkins Square Park spread on social media over the weekend.


Mayor Eric Adams
Mayor Eric Adams marched in the parade, as did Sen. Chuck Schumer.
GC Images

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also walked the parade rout.
GC Images

“This movement grooms minors to have mastectomies and castration and fuels a multi billion dollar medical child abuse industry,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted in response to a clip.

Jenna Ellis, an attorney who was briefly part of former President Donald Trump’s legal team, joined the pile-on.

“Remember that thing they said they totally are not doing?” Ellis tweeted.


A man in a car with a rainbow sash.
“They’re in danger every day,” one spectator said about people in drag.
AP

A pride float laden with rainbow balloons.
The pride march comes just as politicians across the country launch attacks on both drag shows and trans rights.
Stephen Yang

The online outrage will have real-world consequences, said May Blimline, an 18-year-old from the Keystone State.

“I live in Pennsylvania, where [homophobia] is a lot more common,” Blimline said Sunday. “So I personally don’t appreciate it, because it makes my life a lot harder and people a lot more judgmental of me.”

Still, being able to laugh at the “absurdity” is important, said Jimmie O’Brien, a 66-year-old gay man from NYC.

“I think humor is the truth that breaks everything,” O’Brien told The Post. “When humor comes out, that’s where inspiration comes from. When it doesn’t come out, it’s repressed. And then it comes out as anger.”



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