Abortion Ruling Casts Shadow on Pride Festivities
Good morning. It’s Monday. We’ll look at the sense of urgency that the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling added to the annual gay pride parade.
We’ll also get a look at a sculpture by Jean Dubuffet that was all but forgotten for decades. The Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and the threat to same-sex consensual relations and same-sex marriage that Justice Clarence Thomas raised in his concurring opinion cast a shadow over the New York City Pride March on Sunday.
The annual event is usually an unabashed celebration. This time, Planned Parenthood led the parade at the invitation of Heritage of Pride, the group that organizes the march along Fifth Avenue.
Heritage of Pride said the court decision set “a disturbing precedent that put many other constitutional rights and freedoms in jeopardy.” So while there were the usual rainbow balloons floating in the early-summer breeze and the usual revelers tossing confetti, there was also a newfound urgency amid chants of “rise up for abortion rights.” Marchers and people on the sidelines said the times called for activism to maintain and expand civil rights for women as well as for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.
