The World Celebrates Gay Pride And Equal Marriage Today

Stonewall Inn  Where It All Began In 1969

Rainbows and good cheer will be out in force Sunday as hundreds of thousands of people pack gay pride events from New York City to Seattle, San Francisco to Chicago to celebrate a Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

Organizers of San Francisco's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade, just called "Pride," expect about 1 million revelers. It will have 240 groups marching in the parade and more than 30 floats, its largest in 45 years.

"Every trailer in Nevada and California has been rented and brought in, including one from a farm in Northern California," said Gary Virginia, board president of San Francisco Pride. "I just think it's going to be magical this year."

That's because the U.S. Supreme Court issued on Friday a long-awaited ruling, giving same-sex couples the right to marry in all 50 states. Virginia's comments were echoed by leaders of Pride celebrations in other cities.

"It's going to be an epic weekend," said David Studinski, march director for New York City Pride. "I actually just wrote on Twitter that this is the most historic Pride march since the first."

New York City expects 22,000 people marching in a 2-mile route and more than 2 million people to visit throughout the day. The event is considered a march, Studinski said, because the movement still has much to accomplish.

At gay pride parades in Dublin, Paris and other cities Saturday, the U.S. ruling was hailed by many as a watershed.

"Soon in all countries we will be able to marry," said Celine Schlewitz, a 25-year-old nurse taking part in the Paris parade. "Finally a freedom for everyone."

In the Philippines, in India, in Australia and elsewhere, gay rights advocates think the decision may help change attitudes. It's is expected to have a ripple effect elsewhere.

Street celebrations were boosted Saturday in Dublin, where Ireland mounted the biggest gay rights parade in the country's history.

Led by rainbow banners and drag queens, more than 60,000 people paraded at the culmination of a weeklong gay rights festival in the Irish capital. While the mood was already high following Ireland's referendum last month to legalize gay marriage - becoming the first nation to do so by popular vote - many marchers said the Supreme Court ruling provided a bonus reason to celebrate.

Pride festivities started as a way to honor the 1969 Stonewall rebellion, when gay patrons stood up to a police raid at a bar in New York City. In San Francisco, marchers took to Polk Street in 1970 and in 1972, the event became a parade, with an estimated 2,000 marchers and 15,000 spectators, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

This year's parade in San Francisco, which has the theme "Equality Without Exception," offers a bit of everything for spectators, from social justice to professional basketball. The parade's celebrity grand marshal is Rick Welts, president of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors. Speakers include Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, and Jim Obergefell, the named plaintiff in the landmark same-sex marriage suit decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chicago, the Twin Cities, St. Petersburg and St. Louis have planned Pride events for Sunday.

Seattle expects to draw nearly 500,000 parade watchers, said Eric Bennett, president of Seattle Pride.

"This is definitely going to be a momentous Pride weekend all over the country," he said. "It's just going to raise the celebration level of everybody who supports marriage equality."