As a Spurs and rainbow ribbon-themed Chevy Tahoe honked its way through the barricaded downtown avenue, two people jumped out of the back doors and skipped to the cheering crowd on the sidewalks. The two placed fans, bracelets and laurels into all the hands they could before running out of supplies. Further back, a firetruck that donned even more pride ribbons is unmissable, and in between the passes of paraders, the occasional waft of smoke from barbecue pits dares one to step away. The Pride Bigger Than Texas parade is a main point of execution in Pride San Antonio’s mission to deliver a living community to the diverse and marginalized array of groups that comprise the LGBTQIA+ community.
The parade, which followed a day-long pride festival at Crockett Park Saturday, began at 9 P.M. A mix of vehicles and on-foot participants marched down a near-mile stretch of fervorous crowds that spanned North Main Avenue, from the front of the San Antonio College Campus, along the bar strips, through Crockett Park and ended on Lexington Avenue.
The event coordinators, Pride San Antonio, are a non-profit organization that leads San Antonio’s only official Pride celebrations. Originally founded in 2004 as Gay Pride SA, the organization has rallied for two decades around a founding mission statement from its member, Carlos Vela: “Facilitate the needs of individuals so that individuals can facilitate the needs of the community.”
“It’s crazy compared to when I was a kid,” attendee Sophia Albrecht said. “It’s like, normal to be trans and for there to be a parade now.”
“This is my first go around, and there’s a lot more coming from outside the community than I thought there’d be,” said Joseph Albrecht, who joined his daughter Sophia for the parade. “I guess I’m a part of that too.”
Some mainstay San Antonio businesses such as the San Antonio Zoo, Gamez Law Firm and the Old Town Trolley Tours bus made appearances in the parade, while smaller, local businesses among the likes of Alamo City Airbrush, Mikey’s Hair Studio and Keystone Missions Therapy also strutted the streets.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar and his wife, Sarah, joined the parade, waving from the back of a Bexar County police truck that rolled by the crowds. Their attendance and the significant on-duty police presence at the parade were indicative of the city’s legitimized support and protection of the San Antonio LGBTQIA+ community during the city’s Pride Week.
“It’s new, that’s for sure,” said street griller Eddy Salazar, “Definitely not used to feeling protected by the guns.”
In June 2025, the city of San Antonio officially designated North Main Avenue as the Pride Cultural Heritage District and reaffirmed its support of the LGBTQIA+ community when the city installed rainbow-striped sidewalks along the district’s road this past March. They were installed in replacement of the street’s previous rainbow crosswalk that was removed in January following a 2025 order from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
“I always have pride, but this year it means a little more,” said Fernando Zamora, who’s attended the parade since 2017. “I don’t want to see us take steps back.”
The parade being held on the contentious street where the rainbows were removed and reapplied this year created for some, like Zamora, a layer of symbology that demanded reverent attitudes; however, the circumstances struck different chords for others.
“This couldn’t be gayer. I’m literally standing on a concrete pride flag,” said an elated Annie Schuler.
There wasn’t much during the event to temper the momentous pride of attendees; however, one unambiguously anti-LGBTQ cross-carrier spoke through a microphone along the parade sidewalk: “Jesus Christ saved me from homosexual sin.”
Several members of the crowd turned from the barricades to engage the speaker with heated remarks, but prior to parade’s end, the negative attention waned and the lone protester dispensed with admonishments of the crowd.
While representation of the LGBTQIA+ community’s pride remains a provocative and divisive matter in the state year to year, the Pride Bigger Than Texas parade is San Antonio’s annual event designed to unite those inside and outside of the community in a celebratory cap off to June’s Pride Month.
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