Bubbles and pink smoke floated through the air as a rainbow-clad crowd of thousands grinned, danced and proclaimed that they matter and that love comes first — whatever form it takes and whatever obstacles it may face.
It was the annual Motor City Pride parade Sunday, June 7, with members of the LGBTQ+ community, allies, the old, the young, laypeople and politicians all in downtown Detroit as part of the full weekend of pride events, including music and other festivities at Hart Plaza on both Saturday and Sunday.
It’s the best day of the year, said DJ Jarvis, 29, of Farmington, at the parade.
It’s a day of euphoric joy, and it is something that is needed more than ever with leaders who wish the LGBTQ+ community didn’t exist, said Jarvis, who came with the nonprofit group Michigan Rocky Horror Preservation Society. The group works to keep the queer tradition of the “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” alive and Jarvis was dressed as the character Columbia.
“Instead of cowering in fear, we are showing that we are here, we exist, we matter, and we are not going anywhere,” Jarvis said, later adding: “I feel so loved and safe and cared for surrounded by the community at large. … It’s like my Disneyland, basically.”
The day is about peace, love and community, said Sierra “NuEra Sunshine” Barber, 37, of Detroit, who brought her 5-year-old daughter Calliope along.
Barber wants her daughter to know she can love whoever she wants as long as she’s happy, healthy and safe, the mom said.
There’s the fun part of Pride with getting to be silly and get dressed up for the day, but the main message is happiness and love — beyond sexual orientation or any other way people identify, Barber said.
That should be the takeaway, she said.
“If people loving each other and being happy bothers you, that’s a ‘you’ problem,” she said.
It’s especially important to be out at events like Motor City Pride as the community faces backlash yet again, said Ivan “Sunny” Leikert, 28, of Lansing, who was attending the Motor City Pride parade for the first time.
It’s been hard to navigate having officials like President Donald Trump, “who you are supposed to look up to as an American and they are telling you … it really feels like: we don’t want these people, we don’t want them around, we don’t want them alive,” Leikert said.
The president declared there are only two sexes — male and female — and moved to keep transgender people out of the military. He’s also taken action against institutions that allow transgender students to play in school sports, among other maneuvers focused on the LGBTQ+ community.
The crowd at Sunday’s parade showed that the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is not what most people are thinking, just the message coming from the loudest voices, Leikert said.
Leikert held a giant, yellowish, furry costume dog head under their arm as they spoke.
Leikert is genderfluid, uses various pronouns, and said it’s important for others to interact with the real people in their community and not just read about them online. Members of the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically Leikert’s community of furries, aren’t scary, they said.
They’re just people being themselves.
“It’s just worth your time to go out and have fun and interact with people and put smiles on people’s faces – and you can’t tell, but you’re doing the same to me,” Leikert said, not too long before donning the costume dog head.
The crowd cheered for speakers like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and waved at a slew of political candidates and office holders who marched through the street. The Detroit Pistons’ mascot Hooper made his way through the parade atop a truck. There was a marching band, motorcycles, pets and dancers.
Waiting at the back of the parade lineup in a shirt that read “Free Dad Hugs,” Neil Pittman, 57, of Livonia, said this was his second year attending the event as an ally.
He, indeed, gives out hugs to those who want it there, he said. Some have said their own parents are “bigots,” so it means a lot to them. It also feels good for him to make others feel comfortable.
“It’s the happiest crowd you’ll ever see,” he said of the parade.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Queer joy, unity above hate mark 2026 Motor City Pride parade
Reporting by Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
