‘Our Existence Is Resistance’: Bronx Pride Returns Strong in 2025

Hundreds of LGBTQ+ Bronxites and allies took to the streets on Saturday for the second annual Bronx Pride March, stepping off from Borough Hall and making their way down the Grand Concourse and East 149th Street in a vibrant show of queer pride, resilience and unity. With chants of “our existence is resistance,” the march honored LGBTQ+ history while celebrating the borough’s present-day diversity and strength.

Marchers waved rainbow flags, drivers honked their horns and motorcycle riders revved their engines as the procession rounded the corner at Bergen Avenue in the South Bronx before filling the block for the Bronx Pride Festival.

The sweltering heat didn’t stop the celebration. When it became too hot to dance in the sun, festival goers loaded up on agua frescas and frozen drinks and danced in the shade.

Dozens of organizations set up tables with information for LGBTQ Bronx residents on how to access resources like mental health support, queer-specific healthcare, housing programs and youth services all with fun pride swag bonuses like rainbow stickers, fans and bags.

Organizations, food trucks and local vendors set up tents at the Bronx Pride Festival on Saturday with rainbow themed Pride swag, resource pamphlets and games with prizes. Credit: Sadie Brown

Rainbow folding fans quickly became a favorite freebie of the day, not just for cooling off but also for dancing, accessorizing and even applauding— letting out a loud “clack!” when the fans are snapped open and closed repeatedly.

Kelly Kaboom, a drag performer dubbed “Princess of the Bronx,” was one of Bronx Pride’s 2025 Grand Marshalls leading the march from borough hall and presiding over festivities to make sure everyone had a good time. She told the Bronx Times that she felt like each year Pride gets better.

“ New York is accepting,” Kaboom said. “There was a time where it wasn’t accepting, but now we are more accepting. Just live your life; love who you love; that’s all that matters.”

Organized by Destination Tomorrow, the only LGBTQ center in the Bronx, with help from the Borough President’s LGBTQIA+ Task Force, this year’s march and festival highlighted joy and community at a time when anti-LGBTQ legislation at the federal level is on the rise. Founder and CEO of Destination Tomorrow, Sean Ebony Coleman, said prior to the event that the festival was both a celebration and a statement—one meant to affirm the resilience and presence of LGBTQIA+ communities in the Bronx.

“We are proud to bring the Bronx together once again in love and resistance,” said Coleman in a statement. “This year’s theme, ‘Our Existence Is Our Resistance,’ is a reminder that LGBTQIA+ communities, particularly Black and brown Trans and Queer folks, are surviving, thriving and taking up space in powerful ways. Pride can be a protest, but it’s also about joy and freedom.”

LGBTQ+ Bronxites and allies marched from Borough Hall to the Bronx Pride Festival to show that ‘Our Existence is Resistance” on Saturday June, 21. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Bronx Borough President

Angelina Rosario, a Bronx resident and Queer EMT from  Morrisania, said although at times she didn’t feel represented or accepted in the borough, she felt like Bronx Pride was moving the needle.

“ Being out here for the second year, I’m just seeing other people that you can tell are not part of our community that are also out here celebrating with us,” Rosario said. “So that’s pretty cool.”

Bomin Kim and Ben Baker attended the Bronx Pride Festival to show LGBTQ+ Bronxites that they are loved and accepted. The two were volunteering with Kaleidoscope, a Queer-led Christian ministry that provides safe and welcoming spaces for LGBTQ+ people who are interested in learning about Christianity.

Both parents, Kim and Baker held signs reading “free hugs” and “Mom hugs” embracing Queer Bronxites who approached.

Baker told the Bronx Times that while he does not live in the Bronx, he has a daughter who is gay and he felt that it was important to be at the Bronx Pride Festival to “love people and let them know that they are important and valued.”

”You can feel there’s a lot of emotion behind it when you’re hugging somebody,” Baker said. “Sometimes I feel like there’s a lot of potential healing that’s happening by just loving somebody well.”

A crowd surrounded “The Princess of the Bronx” Kelly Kaboom, cheering and dancing as she gave a drag performance at the Bronx Pride Festival of Saturday. Credit: Sadie Brown

For 2025 Bronx Pride Grand Marshal Nicco Diaz, the festival — and his work as a poet, playwright, spacemaker, and community organizer — is a way to heal the young, queer boy he once was, who didn’t feel accepted for who he was.

“ The things that I was ridiculed for, that I was punished for, are the exact things that make me special, that make me unique, are the things that make me an amazing artist,” Diaz said. “So, I would tell that little boy, ‘Don’t listen to them. Follow your heart.’”

Diaz told the Bronx Times that there is still a lot of homophobia in the Bronx and that while the borough is changing, there aren’t enough safe spaces for LQBTQ+ Bronxites to gather and be themselves.

“ It’s an actual injustice that as a gay person, if I want to party, if I want to meet boys, or more importantly just feel seen, I have to go to Hell’s Kitchen, I have to go to Brooklyn,” Diaz said.

He said that he would like to see Bronx elected officials create incentives for local businesses that are doing LGBTQ+ programming during June to encourage more events and opportunities for Bronx based LGBTQ+ dancers, artists, poets and drag queens to keep the culture alive in the borough.

A festival goer dances to the Latin Urbano performance of Annie RR as the weather cooled and Bronxites filled the festival streets to dance and party, Saturday. Credit: Sadie Brown

As the sun sank lower and temperatures dropped, performers took to the stage, ready to take advantage of a reenergized crowd. Kelly Kaboom donned a pair of tall, black stiletto boots and had the audience singing, while Queer Latin Urbano artist Annie RR had the crowd on their feet and dancing. As the festival continued LGBTQ+ Bronxites celebrated their Queer Pride as political resistance, visibility and strength— but never forgot that it was a party.