Liberation for All: An Illustrated Review of NYC Pride 2026

Hi, Gay!

Jun 30, 2026

June 30, 2026

A taste of Peppermint (All images by Matthew Rettenmund)

NYC Pride this Sunday was, as usual, a memorable coming-together of disparate forces under the auspices of having fun, protesting, expressing our true selves and supporting each other.

I hate when LGBTQ+ people are down on Pride. I’m not exactly Mr. Rainbows & Sunshine myself, but I always find the day to be irrepressibly uplifting.

(L-R) Kazz Alexander, a member of Gays Against Guns, Dominique Jackson, Jay W. Walker, Peppermint, Bernie Wagenblast, Bowen Yang & Michelle Irimia

I arrived in the morning to catch the presser, which included speeches by all five grand marshals — Bowen Yang, Peppermint, Dominique Jackson of Pose, Bernie Wagenblast (voice of the NYC MTA) and the group Gays Against Guns — as well as Pride officials and Christen Clifford, a mom of two trans kids who objected to the inclusion of hospitals in the March. After all, some of NYC’s biggest medical institutions have been capitulating to Trump on trans issues.

Christen Clifford, who urged Pride to dump backstabbing medical institutions

On the plus side, I got to chat with Bowen (who is a sweetheart) and Bernie (whose ability to turn on her famous subway voice is astounding).

Peppermint at the podium & with performer Tym Moss

Dominique speaking and doing some pre-March *Pose*-ing

Though Dominique played imperious so well on TV, she is very gracious and warm in real life, and spent lots of time posing with starstruck fans.

Jay W. Walker before the March. During the March, he led a die-in.

I was so caught up with the grand marshals I missed Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul, but I did stick to Meg Stalter like glue. She was in full Mary Todd Lincoln drag ahead of her imminent Broadway debut in Oh, Mary! and being her usual offbeat self, droning, “I love gay. Gay all the way up and down.”

As usual, I marched along with the first chunk of participants before doubling back, doing this over and over until I gave up around 3.

Sadly, I just missed the Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody boys, dammit. But I did get Ariana DeBose, Wilson Cruz and some others, plus lots of nonfamous participants.