Last week, there was a tad bit of controversy (and a dollop of confusion) over the Harlem Pride event scheduled for the last weekend in June. The weekend-long celebration of gay pride in Harlem left some local pastors frothing at the mouth that "the homosexual agenda will do nothing but harm the community." But not everyone is intimidated by the rainbow: "My church will be there in full force," said openly gay Pastor Joseph Tolton. more ›

The second annual Harlem Pride event is coming up on June 24-26; the weekend-long celebration of gay pride in Harlem includes a barbecue, bowling and a dance party. But many people are confused about the name of the event, while others are just enraged at the idea of it. "If children start to believe it is okay to be gay, they will think it's okay to be a pedophile or have sex with animals. It's a slippery slope," said Dr. Ronald Ferguson. more ›

Just in case you were wondering what former mayor Rudy Giuliani thought of Republican gubernatorial Carl Paladino's remarks criticizing gay marriage, gay lifestyle, and gay pride parades—all while maintaining he has no problem with gays—the lifetime mayor of 9/11 said, "At a time when the state and nation are facing massive deficits, irresponsible overspending, job-killing taxes and an ongoing war of terrorism against us, all candidates should be focused on solutions to our problems and not the personal lives of our fellow citizens. He should recognize his remarks were highly offensive and he should apologize for them." more ›

On Sunday we were invited to ride along with the boys on W's Gay Pride Parade float—here are some photos that Dan Lurie took for us while marching along with them. (And even more photos of the event from readers!) This year's Grand Marshals were Constance McMillen, the Mississippi teen banished from her school's prom for being a lesbian; Lt. Dan Choi, an openly gay National Guardsman; and Judy Shepard, mother of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard. They were all joined by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Gov. David Paterson, along with thousands of others. more ›

As a precursor to Sunday's Gay Pride parade, hundreds of protesters took to 5th Avenue as a party of the 18th Annual Dyke March. Marshals blocked traffic and paved the way for the march, with people carrying signs like "Dykes Make Me Proud" and "Legalize Our Love." Though there were some haters carrying signs saying "Jesus Saves from Hell," there were also a fair amount of women exercising their right to be topless, so watch out for some NSFW pics. more ›

The Gay Pride parade kicked off at noon today, starting from 36th Street and 5th Avenue, and marching down to Christopher and Greenwich Streets. There will also be a number of events happening after the parade. PRIDEfest street fair will be taking place until 7 p.m. at Hudson Street between W 14th Street and Abingdon Square, and after the parade the Dance on the Pier party at Pier 54 will be going through a fireworks show at 10:30 p.m. If you're there, send us photos at tips@gothamist.com, or tag them "gothamist" on Flickr. more ›

Yesterday the 18th annual Queens Pride Parade took over the streets in Jackson Heights, just a few weeks before the big show happens on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. The Daily News called the Queens parade an opportunity for local politicians to gain support amongst the community, who was let down when the state Senate tossed aside the same-sex marriage bill last December. Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), also a parade founder, told the paper, "We're not going to tolerate having Democratic elected officials who don't support marriage equality. It's a basic civil right and they need to recognize it." more ›

It was a beautiful day for a parade, and participants and spectators of the Gay Pride March made the most of it. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to see the colorful procession of marchers, floats, musicians, and performers. One spectator told NY1, "I'm hoping that in my time, I get to see them legalize gay marriage." more ›

Thousands (possibly hundreds of thousands) of people gathered for today's Gay Pride March, and it seems that the NYPD is serious about revelers on Christopher Street not watching the parade from fire escapes. While the Sixth Precinct's letter to Christopher Street residents simply "recommended" that fire escapes not be used for march viewing due to concerns about the escapes' structural integrity and for the public, we hear that cops are taking their suggestion seriously—a tipster says, "They just made a party of folks leave their fire escape (I think at 100 Christopher)." more ›

Yesterday's brief downpour didn't result in Mammatus clouds, but it did bring a pretty rainbow. We'll take it! more ›

Get ready an explosion of color and pride and with today's annual NYC LGBT Gay Pride Parade. The parade-march starts at noon, at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street; the parade makes its way down Fifth, swings right onto West 8th Street and ends on Christopher Street, with grand marshals Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, Harvey Milk's campaign workers and LGBT activists Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, and Governor David Paterson. Besides the parade, there's the Pridefest on Hudson St. between Abingdon Sq. & West 14th St. (between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.) and Pier Dance at Pier 54 (Hudson River & 13th Street; tickets are $70). Overall, expect lots of revelry in the West Village, even if they're not on the fire escapes this year! If you're headed to the parade, you can share your photos with us by tagging them "gothamist" on Flickr or emailing them to tips(at)gothamist(dot)com . more ›

This Sunday is the annual LGBT Gay Pride March, which starts on Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street and then makes its way down Fifth, swings right onto West 8th Street and ends on Christopher Street. Reader Sacha Lecca let us know that on Wednesday night, signs were posted on all the apartment buildings on Christopher Street. The NYPD "recommended that viewing of this weekend's Heritage of Pride Parade not be done from fire escapes," due to safety—given concern over the structural integrity of the fire escapes and the possible harm to not only people on them but people below. more ›

Gay Pride Week is coming to a close with today's Gay Pride March along Fifth Avenue and a number of other events. But while you celebrate, please remain vigilant also, because a reader tells us he was attacked on the 2/3 from Christopher Street late yesterday afternoon, after volunteering at a pride event:

"The guy kept asking us to move because he didn't like us and that we made him sick. There was no place else for us to go. He started hitting me and then his girlfriend started clawing me with her nails...I took a cab to St. Vincents, filed a police report and got two black eyes, 7 stitches, multiple chipped teeth, broken glasses."

Last month, New York City kicked off a big global advertising campaign to attract more tourists to the Big Apple. The ads appear in a number of venues, and the Post notes that media space has been bought in Out magazine and on the LOGO network, as well as LGBT websites. A Bloomberg administration official explains that gay and lesbians have more disposable income, as they are usually dual-income without kids, "What we're saying... more ›

The Reggae Carifest set to happen at Randall's Island this Saturday may get the plug pulled. amNewYork reports that Power 105 withdrew its sponsorship in response to two artists on the bill having anti-gay language in their songs. The artists, Buju Banton and Bounty Killer, have a history of inflammatory lyrics. Banton's song "Boom Bye Bye" speaks of burning and shooting gay men, while Bounty Killer's song "Another Level" suggests drowning them. The Dancehall reggae artists are part of a long history that genre has in advocating anti-gay violence. more ›

Of all the days and in all the neighborhoods for this to happen: On Sunday, the Daily News reports that Khadijah Farmer, a "masculine lesbian," was kicked out of the women's bathroom at the Caliente Cab Co. on Seventh Avenue in the West Village. And this happened to be a few hours after the Gay Pride Parade! more ›

Yesterday was the 38th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride March, and thousands of people participated - from shimmying and showing off their outrageous costumes to waving gay pride flags and hollering their support. The grand marshals of the parade were religious leaders Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and Reverend Dr. Troy Perry; Kleinbaum said, "We stand for a progressive religious voice. Those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda I believe are blaspheming God’s name.” more ›

THEATER: HERE Artistic Director Kristin Marting concludes the OBIE-winning art center’s season by directing performer/dancer Alexandra Beller in us, “a highly athletic, sensual and dynamic blend of movement with song, text and a layered soundscape. Beller created this deeply personal commentary on the state of the union from the perspective of a woman who is at a crisis point in a love relationship.” As we haven’t seen it, we’ll defer to The New Yorker on this one: “The former Bill T. Jones standout dresses herself in the American flag, uses it as a jump rope, breast-feeds it. A sound score assaults her with conservative rhetoric, circa 2004, and she enlists the audience in pointing out contradictions in Leviticus.” Just another reason why we love New York. ENDS SUNDAY! – John Del Signore more ›

The State Assembly voted in favor of allowing same-sex marriages in New York. Newsday said it was the first time a gay marriage bill was "debated publicly in one of the houses of the State Legislature Tuesday." However, the bill is not expected to make it pass the Republican-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said, "We're not doing gay marriage by [tomorrow's adjournment], that's for sure." more ›

The NY Times doled out two big endorsements for the upcoming Democratic primaries this weekend: One for Attorney General and the other for Governor. And Mark Green, the former city Public Advocate, gets the nod, even though the editoral starts out, "If there are excellent Democratic candidates for governor this year, the race to succeed Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is a lot more contentious and a lot less promising." Green's "prickly personality" is noted, as is "when elected, he has always repaid voters by doing the job well." While Andrew Cuomo's mixed record at HUD is cited as enough to make being AG questionable. more ›

The NY State Court of Appeals ruled that gay marriage is not allowed. The Court of Appeals heard a NYC case in which Judge Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that gay marriage was allowed. The city appealed, and the case made it way up to the highest court in the state. Here's the ruling (PDF) and here's some of what it says:

We hold that the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex. Whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature. more ›

- And speaking of horrible accidents, a man was thrown from his car on the Henry Hudson - and then a car drove over him; police suspect his wife was speeding, causing the accident that threw him out more ›

Thousands of people (WNBC says 500,000!) lined Fifth Avenue and Greenwich Village streets to enjoy this year's Gay Pride Parade, in spite of a bit of rain. In fact, one performer on the "Carnival in Rio" float told the NY Times, "Today is our day. The rain won't stop us. Mother Nature is a drag queen." One of the stars of the parade was Kevin Aviance, the drag queen who was brutally beaten by some teens in the East Village. A parade parade spectator deemed Aviance, who was wearing red high heels, silver shorts, a white jacket, and sparkly silver top hat, "fabulous." more ›

- A flight to Puerto Rico had to return to JFK after two passangers started throwing punches. more ›

Many politicians will be marching in the Gay Pride Parade, as it's a big election year, and, like many constituencies with issues at stake, the gay community generally heads to the polls to support their candidates. Which makes Republican Senate hopeful Kathleen T. McFarland's new disclosure about her family fascinating. The NY Times reports that McFarland's advisers told to her reveal that her childhood home was "physically abusive" and why she became estranged with her gay brother (it was over "objections to his lifestyle"). McFarland went public with the information because two letters she wrote to her parents about the abuse "have found their way into the hands of a magazine reporter." The actual statement doesn't directly refer to her brother being gay in the statement, but the Times article explains McFarland didn't attend her HIV-positive brother's funeral "out of concern about a confrontation with her parents." more ›

The Gay Pride Parade started at noon at Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, but don't worry, you'll be able to check it out as it winds its way down Fifth, making a right when it right 8th Street and then heads towards Christopher Street, and will take a few hours. And there will be lots of celebrating along the way and afterwards, what with Pridefest and the Dance on the Pier. The parade's co-Grand Marshals are Florent Morellet and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. more ›

With Gay Pride Week coming to a close this weekend, Gothamist Health wants everyone to feel good and to get out and enjoy the festivities and big Parade. On that note, the Department of Health released a list of 10 tips this week to promote a healthy LGBT lifestyle. While we understand that we are all at risk for most health problems, there are a few conditions are a bit more common in the gay community. Some are more obvious than others, but it never hurts to review - many of them are applicable to people of all sexual orientations: more ›

- Butch/Femme Fashion Showdown more ›

Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on this weekend's savage gay-bashing outside East Village gay bar Phoenix, saying, "Anybody that thinks they can get away with a hate crime is sadly mistaken. It was a disgrace." Well-known performer and drag queen Kevin Aviance is being released from the hospital today after surgery to his jaw. He hopes to recover in time to perform at the Gay Pride Parade on June 25. Aviance was wearing a black sleeveless hoodie, black shorts and boots when he walked down East 13th Street; Clarence Patton, of the NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, summed up the fears about the attack to the NY Times, "People will say: Here it is. Kevin Aviance in the East Village in boy's clothes, in a place that's supposed to be ours, getting beat up." The attack occured around 1AM on Saturday night, which is not that late for the East Village - do you feel that the neighborhood is safe or unsafe then? more ›