People on the sidewalk

Posted by Martin Fuchs at 09:18 PM | Comments (3)

The Gay Pride Parade in color (last part)

This is the last set of photographs I am posting of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March 2005 in New York City. Because I got request for color photos of that day... Here are some color photographs for my visitors I care for. :-) Have fun and see more photographs of the parade here and here.

Posted by Martin Fuchs at 11:43 PM | Comments (4)

More photos of the Gay Pride Parade 2005

More photographs of the great Gay Pride Parade 2005 last Sunday in New York.

Posted by Martin Fuchs at 11:39 PM | Comments (4)

A city of love: The Gay Pride Parade for Equal rights

This years Gay Pride Parade (now officially called Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March) in New York City took place this Sunday and was a hell of a party. I really liked the Puerto Rican Day Parade a couple of weeks ago. It was good fun and the temper was high. But the Gay Pride Parade was even more exiting! You could even say "Love is in the air. Everywhere I look around. Love is in the air. Every sight and every sound" (Lyrics of John Paul Youngs song). Well of course it's not only about love and fun but also about those who suffer from discrimination and HIV. This years theme for the parade was "Equal rights, no more no less."

One of the things I liked most about the march have been the spectators. The Gay Pride Parade started on 52nd Street, went down to 8th Street, turned right and went over onto Christopher Street. I started around 46th Street, the mood was good, observers seamed 5th Avenue. But the further you came down the more people where standing on both sides of the street watching the parade passing by, waving with banners and rainbow flags, screaming and applauding.
And let me tell you, there was enough to applaud to. Different organizations, politicians and groups marched to show their support and work for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. There have been colorful dressed up drag-queens, muscular cowboys, beer bellied country fans, hot women, war veterans, firefighters and police officers marching in the parade... Yes, police didn't only patrol the streets, uniformed police officers carried a banner for the "Gay Officers Action League" and marched. Could you imagin gay police officers in Austria wearing a rainbow flag? Could you imagine them speaking out publicly? I can't. Well, that's New York baby.

The shot of the day
Unfortunatly (damn!) I missed the shot of the day because my memory card just transfered the last 230 photos onto a portable harddisk...
There was a truck of Absolut Vodka (there is commerce in all those parades) with dancers on it in the parade. It was lead by two really hot girls who did amazing things with their "hula hoops". Just a few feet before the end of the parade one of those girls went over to a group of police officers to persuade one of them to come and try the hula hoop. As I already thought, this policeman just shook his head and said no. BUT the girl was intractable and finally persuaded another of these police officers. He stepped forward and took the hoop. The crowd on each side of the street (since that was just a few feet away of the parades end there have been sooo many people) started to scream enthusiastically and gave this police officer a big applause after trying it. That's New York as well. :-)

Posted by Martin Fuchs at 11:43 PM | Comments (6)

Billy Grahams Greater New York Crusade Part II

As I mentioned yesterday already I've been a little tricky to get access to areas I normaly wouldn't be allowed to go without a press pass. I did that at Billy Grahams Crusade in Queens and I did that at the Gay Pride Parade in Manhatten today. I've postponed this little story to tomorrow together with photos of todays parade.

Posted by Martin Fuchs at 10:45 PM | Comments (2)

Billy Grahams Greater New York Crusade Part I

Today was the second evening of Billy Grahams Greater New York Crusade to which more than 80.000 people came as organizers estimated. Graham is 86 years old. He suffers from fluid on the brain, prostate cancer and the Parkinson's disease. This will be his last crusade in the United States. Beside those thousands and thousands of evangelic prayers political notables such as President Clinton, Senator Hillary Clinton or New York Citys Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg attended.

It was quite interesting to see how this crusade (kind of a strange term for this event) took place and which people attended. Personally I don't see myself as a very religious person. The catholic church (that's how I grew up) in Europe is just too conservativ and grim. But there is a much broader variety of churches with different approaches in America. I can just say that I saw and heared certain kinds of enthusiasm and conservative views (in another way than those in Europ