Some participants aren’t welcoming the stepped-up security: Two honorary grand marshals and a health clinic that serves sex workers withdrew Friday from the parade to protest the heavy police presence.Ĭhicago police have put 200 more officers than usual on duty for the city’s pride parade Sunday.
San Francisco spectators will face metal detectors for the first time, and more police than usual will keep watch. While the city has provided similar protections in the past, “you’ll see more” this year, Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Thousands of uniformed officers were to line the route, supplemented by plainclothes officers in the crowd. New York police planned to deploy roving counterterrorism units and use bomb-sniffing dogs, rooftop observation posts, police helicopters and thousands of officers to provide extra layers of security at Sunday’s parade. “It’s been an interesting experience to build the parade with kind of a heavier message” after the optimistic sentiment last year, Stephanie Mufson said.
Sunday’s parades did have a new milestone to mark: President Barack Obama on Friday designated the site around New York City’s Stonewall Inn as the first national monument to gay rights.