An estimated 400,000 people attended Mexico City’s June 25 Pride parade, including Dallasite Max Nuñez
Max Nuñez of Dallas was wowed by the size of Mexico City’s Pride parade., (Photo by Jesus Nunez)
Jesus Chairez | Contributing Writer
editor@dallasvoice.com
A massive crowd, estimated to be more than 400,000 strong, attended Mexico City’s 38th annual Gay Pride Parade, officially known as the Marcha del Orgullo LGBTTTI (Lésbico, Gay, Bisexual, Transgénero, Travesti, Transexual e Intersexual) on Saturday, June 25.
The wall-to-wall LGBT Mexicans enjoyed their Pride activities on streets that aren’t blocked off with steel barriers to keep people off the street. In México City’s Pride parade, there is no sitting and watching as everything passes by. It’s a march down México City’s main street, Paseo de la Reforma.
The parade begins at the monument of the Angel of Independence (Monumento a la Independencia) situated in México City’s gayborhood, La Zona Rosa (The Pink Zone), and situated in front of the U.S. Embassy. From the Angel, the march moves along to end in front the Presidential Palace in El Zocalo, the city’s main square, with speeches and entertainment.
As with all parades, Mexico City’s Pride parade brings out a variety of people — young, old, osos (bears), people with wigs (lots of wigs!) and, of course, those in makeup. Even gay nudists were participating this year, or at least people without clothes.Though there were families in attendance, parade organizers have never placed restrictions on parade participants to make the event more “family-friendly.”
Dallas native Max Nuñez, who has been an announcer at Dallas’ Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade for the past eight years, attended México City’s Pride parade for the first time this year. Though he has had plenty of experience in Dallas’ Pride parades, he couldn’t help but get emotional a couple of times as he walked in not only in a gay parade, but a parade that totally reflected his culture and heritage.
Nuñez said México City’s Pride parade far exceeded his expectations, giving him an “overwhelming sense of unity and love that was palpable and electric.”
Nuñez also said he was impressed with how large the parade was and how long it lasted. It “went on and on and on, a that party didn’t seem stop,” he said.
(Nuñez will once again be an announcer at the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade, set for Sunday, Sept. 18, at 2 p.m.).
To view more pictures of México City’s pride parade, visit Chairez’s Flickr page at Flickr.com/Photos/JesusChairez.
Jesus Chairez is a former Dallasite now living in Mexico City. He was a producer and host of U.S.’s first bilingual LGBT Latino radio show, Sin Fronteras on KNON 89.3 FM; from July 4, 1993 to July 3, 2005. Chairez is also a published author, “Queer Brown Voices,” a collective of Personal Narratives of Latina/o Activism. Chairez is a now freelance writer and can be reached at facebook.com/JesusChairez
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 8, 2016.
