Thousands attend gay-pride events

Associated Press

DENVER

People in wheelchairs, walking on stilts and riding rainbow-decorated motorcycles turned out for gay-pride events over the weekend, including participants in a Denver parade who carried posters of the names or faces of the victims who died in last weekend’s attack on a nightclub in Florida.

About 2,000 people took part in Denver’s PrideFest parade through town to Civic Center Park on Sunday as hundreds lined sidewalks. Crowds estimated at several hundred thousand attended a two-day festival in front of Denver’s city hall.

Security was tight at events over the weekend. In Denver, authorities set up security fences, bag checks, and police rode Segway scooters and walked with bomb-sniffing dogs.

Organizer Debra Pollock said in past years, the festival area was fenced in overnight, and when parade-goers arrived, they threw open the fences and people swarmed in for dancing and other performances.

“This year, they have to go through security,” Pollock said.

Christi Layne, who helped organize Denver’s gay pride festival 40 years ago, said only seven people showed up for the original meeting, and only 2,000 people showed up for a parade that year. This year was different.

“We insulated ourselves 40 years ago. We had only like-minded people. Now this is open to the world and understanding is spreading,” Layne said.

No serious problems were reported at gay pride events across the country, but the mood for many people was somber.