At Pride marches this year, Pro-Palestinian protests have been a constant presence

Pro-Palestinian protestors have blocked Pride marches in several cities across the country, including Boston, Philadelphia and Denver.

Rainbow flags typically go unrivaled at the nation’s LGBTQ Pride marches. But this year, another symbol has played an outsize role in the annual celebrations: the Palestinian flag.

Waving red, white, green and black, hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists have disrupted some of the nation’s largest Pride parades this month in protest of the Israel-Hamas war and the tens of thousands of deaths and untold suffering it has caused since October.

In Philadelphia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators temporarily blocked the city’s June 2 march, confronting participants with placards that read “no pride in genocide.” In Boston, hostile clashes with police broke out during the city’s annual parade on June 8, leading to the arrest of three protesters. And in Denver, dozens of protesters bypassed SWAT teams to make their way onto the street designated for the city’s annual PrideFest this past weekend.

Police officers stand watch as pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest during the Boston Pride march on June 8. Joseph Prezioso / AFP - Getty ImagesProtests against the monthslong war have occurred across the country, including at college campuses, NFL games and the White House. The demonstrations at Pride marches underscore how the conflict has divided the LGBTQ community, which is typically unified on divisive political issues.

For some queer people, the protests have called into question the meaning of Pride Month and why it is celebrated worldwide every June. The country’s first Pride marches were held on June 28, 1970, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which are credited as a turning point in the modern gay rights movement. The uprising was in response to a police raid of a New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lgbtq-pride-march-israel-hamas-war-protests-rcna156595

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