Saturday’s forecast calls for warm and somewhat humid weather under partly sunny skies, with temperatures creeping toward 90 degrees. Wear light, breathable clothing, shaded hats, and sunscreen, organizers advise.
The city will begin closing roads on and near the parade route early Saturday morning as around 12,000 marchers and 300 organizations check in for the parade. The procession will depart from Copley Square at 11 a.m. and is due to reach the Boston Common by 12:30 p.m.
The Boston Pride Festival will begin at noon in the Common, featuring a slate of performers and DJs headlined by hip-hop duo Flyana Boss, along with around 250 vendors offering everything from clothing and jewelry to baked goods and health screenings.
At 2 p.m., the Boston Pride Block Party will begin in Copley Square, which will have drag shows, food trucks, and a beer and wine garden for attendees over 21.
“It’s essentially putting on two concerts,” Daffin said of the monthslong preparation. This year’s event was moved up a week due to Boston’s World Cup programming.
The “Pride as Protest” theme recognizes the city and state’s history of LGBTQ+ protest and advocacy.
Transgender Day of Remembrance was founded in Boston in honor of Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman who was murdered in Allston in 1998. Massachusetts was the first state to legalize gay marriage in 2003. It is also home to pioneering openly-gay politicians, including Governor Maura Healey and recently-deceased Representative Barney Frank.
“Boston is a city that does not back down, that stands up for what is right,” said Daunasia Yancey, deputy director of the city’s Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement. She said the city’s history of LGBTQ+ development is part of the broader narrative of America’s 250 years of independence.
“I’m thinking about Boston as that beacon of progress, that beacon of inclusivity, that place where people are thinking about planning and taking action on ensuring each other’s rights and dignities,” Yancey said.
Daffin said the LGBTQ+ community holds dear the basic American value of protest, the value that the United States was founded on. He said protest is especially important in today’s political climate amid federal attacks and moves by legislators to reverse the advancements made for the queer and transgender communities.
“We are holding onto the history of pride,” Daffin said. “The most powerful thing that any queer person can do is be out and clear about who they are. We have to come out every day … that’s an act of protest.”
Daffin, 62, has lived in Boston 40 years, but grew up in Mobile, Ala. , where it was unsafe to be gay in the 1970s. Still, he “managed to always have a vision of what it meant to be free.”
For Daffin and other queer people who lived through that time, it’s “remarkable” seeing how far LGBTQ+ rights have come. But it’s still not enough, Daffin said. He said he owes it to future generations to continue to fight for a better world — and sometimes, that fight is a celebration of Pride.
“Even though the theme is protest, and it is a protest, the first thing we want is for people to experience joy and to have the ability to be who they are for a day and not have any fear,” he said. “That in itself if a protest.”
Some helpful links:
Check out this map to pick your viewing spot along the parade route.
See suggested transportation details for each event here.
Lauren Albano can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
