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Hillary Clinton Joined NYC Pride — PHOTO
To drive home her support for same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton marched in New York City's Pride parade on Sunday, potentially making her the first presidential candidate to ever do so. Clinton's participation appears to have been a last-minute decision or at the very least an extremely well-kept secret.
Flanked by US Secret Service agents, Clinton (who has marched at Pride before) joined up with the parade to march for four blocks alongside New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rev. Al Sharpton near the Stonewall Inn, an LGBT bar in Greenwich Village known to be the site of significant riots for gay rights in1969. The inn was recently deemed a historic landmark by President Barack Obama. As she marched, Clinton waved to those cheering on the parade from the sidewalk and shook hands with supporters.
Shortly after joining the parade route, Clinton tweeted a picture of herself at the parade Sunday along with a tweet celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage. "One year ago, love triumphed in our highest court," the presumptive Democratic nominee wrote. "Yet LGBT Americans still face too many barriers. Let's keep marching until they don't."
But the revelry of New York City's annual gay pride parade isn't completely new to Clinton. Sixteen years ago, she marched in the city's parade as both the first lady and a Senate candidate. "She marched 20 paces behind a man in a pink tutu and a skater wearing nothing but a thong," the Washington Post reported at the time. Clinton reportedly marched again in 2006 while running for re-election.
While Clinton is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ rights — like same-sex marriage — now, she hasn't always been. Her position on same-sex marriage, for example, has evolved over the years. In 2000, she said she supported partnership benefits for same-sex couples but felt that "a marriage is, as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman." Although she declared "gay rights are human rights" at a 2011 conference in Geneva, Clinton wouldn't officially come out in support of same-sex marriage until 2013.
Ahead of New York's pride parade Clinton's campaign released a slew of tweets celebrating the progress made in ensuring LGBTQ rights while emphasizing the importance of continuing the fight for equality.