Hundreds Of Thousands Gather For Twin Cities Pride

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Two weeks after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, the Twin Cities Pride festival focused on peace.

"I think it made more people come because they want to support the people in Orlando that did die," Hannick Bermier, from St. Paul, said.

Come out, they did. Pride organizers estimate around 400,000 took part in the weekend's festivities.

"We've always come to pride because of who we are," Colleen Gegan, from Minneapolis, said.

Gegan and her partner of over 20 years celebrated their first Pride weekend as a married couple.

"Just seeing how many people are here, it's amazing," Gegan said.

The annual festival culminated with a parade through downtown Minneapolis Sunday. The crowd went silent as a group of people holding photos of each of the 49 victims killed in the Orlando shooting passed by.

"It really, I think, brought everyone to tears," Twin Cities Pride Director Dot Belstler said. "It was really emotional."

There was also extra security for the event with more officers visible in uniform.

While the rainbow colored flags will soon be taken down with the end of Pride weekend, Pride-goers hope the message stays.

"Love is love," Bermier said. "Everybody loves everybody and it shouldn't matter who you love."

Attendance this year did not beat out last year's record attendance of nearly half a million Pride-goers. It fell on the weekend the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal nationwide.