The month of June was chosen as LGBTQ Pride Month in commemoration of the end of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, an event that served as catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States.<\/p>\n
Sarah Clark said she\u2019s had to hide her identity in the past because of social constraints on expressing her sexuality, she said. But as she\u2019s gotten older, and with culture and laws changing, she\u2019s gotten more comfortable expressing herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of young people have to fit into a norm to be safe,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n
Suzanne Alms, who has lived in the region for 27 years, said she has many friends who are gay or lesbian, and although none of her family members identify as such, she\u2019s \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d about people\u2019s freedom of sexuality being stripped. She marched to stand with everyone who\u2019s marginalized, Alms said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it can happen to one group, it can happen to any other,\u201d Alms said.<\/p>\n
Alex Hughes, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, said they\u2019ve always wanted to march in the Durango Pride parade, but they\u2019ve always had class or school. But now they\u2019ve got an internship with the Rainbow Youth Center and, even though they stayed up all night for a student lock-in the night before, they were able to march this year.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a trans, gay person, it\u2019s good to show we\u2019re here and that we\u2019re not going to be erased,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n Anthony said a public display like a parade for LGBTQ people gives people an opportunity to celebrate differences.<\/p>\n \u201cQueer folk have always been here \u2013 chances like this to be out in the open shows that we exist and we are people,\u201d he said. \u201cComing from a time of fear, this is how far we\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n