Last Updated on April 21, 2020
New York City’s 2020 Pride Parade, scheduled in June, which attracted millions of revelers to the streets of Manhattan last year, has been canceled for the first time in fifty years due to the global pandemic.
The news broke after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the cancellation for permits for all large events in June for the Big Apple, according to NBC News.
Heritage of Pride made the inevitable announcement after De Blasio axed large events due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Other June events such as Celebrate Israel and Puerto Rican Day were also pulled as the NYC mayor made the revelation promising to host the events again “when it’s the right time.”
The first NYC Pride event took place in 1970. The fiftieth NYC Pride Parade was celebrated by millions of attendees from all around the world congregating the celebrate the occasion.
The Stonewall event marked a celebration of the initial rebellion which ignited the modern LGBT movement, culminating in marriage equality in 2012.
At a briefing on the revocation of large event permits, stating that “this will not surprise you,” De Blasio said: “This year is the 50th anniversary of the pride parade, and it’s a very, very big deal.
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“That march is such an important part of life in this city, but this year in particular it was going to be something that was a historic moment.”
Social distancing has affected many groups in an effort to prevent the spread of the deadly Covid-19.
The Winter Party Festival, a gay party event in Florida, led to the death of two and infection of twenty partygoers as the close proximity of attendees heightened risk of catching the coronavirus.
New York City has been particularly affected by the coronavirus, reporting over 130,000 cases and over 10,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
