It was a month late, and the weather was somewhat autumnal but that didn’t stop thousands of participants and spectators from coming to Ponsonby Road to celebrate the diversity of our Rainbow communities.
The parade began with a call to unity under the banner heading “We Are One”.
There was a mixture of groups and organisations represented from Body Positive and Youthline through to corporates such as supermarket chain Countdown and Tower Insurance.
A particularly popular group was the NZ Police who had a small contingent who were made very welcome by the gathered crowds.
They were joined by the only other uniformed group – Fire and Emergency New Zealand.
Back in February there seemed doubt as to whether the New Zealand AIDS foundation would attend the parade, but they turned up with a small contingent.
Political parties were represented – The Labour Party, headed by lesbian MP Louisa Wall, marched proudly
The National Party was a little further back in the parade with one of their MPs proudly leading the pack
And taking up the rear was the ACT Party with leader David Seymour ready with a smile and a wave.
Noticeably absent was the Green Party and their MP for Auckland Central. There was also no representation from Auckland City Council – no councillors, no mayor and no staff.
Parade participation numbers seemed a little more than last year, though crowds lining the streets seemed slightly down on 2020.
It was good to see the parade return this year, it was fun, but perhaps not quite as dynamic as last year’s event and it certainly went by much faster.
Note – the word ‘it’ has been removed from the fourth to last paragraph of this text in order to avoid the meaning of the sentence being misconstrued.
Note – Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick was apparently at another event on the night.