A few hours before the parade, splashes of rainbow balloons and flags started dotting Fifth Avenue. Pride classics like "I'm Coming Out" played in the distance. Marchers and spectators started to line up, thrilled to be gathering again.
The organizers decided to have Planned Parenthood lead the procession through Manhattan.
At noon, with a big pop of confetti and glitter, a platoon of Planned Parenthood marchers started walking to loud cheers from a crowd waving rainbow flags. As the parade went on, glitter-filled the sky and cast a sparkle over the Flatiron Building.
Vanessa Leroy is a photo editing intern at NPR and a freelance photographer and photo editor, based in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds a BFA in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She remains on the hunt for new ways of seeing, remembering and altering the world through photography. She is drawn to image-making because of the power it holds to create nuanced representation for marginalized people and uplift their stories. She sees photography as a tool for social justice, and with it, she hopes to create worlds that people feel as though they can enter and draw from, as well as provide a look into an experience that they may not personally recognize.