Melia Robinson/Business Insider
An NYPD officer waves a rainbow flag during the NYC Pride March.
Barcelona, Lima, Mexico City, Paris, Toronto, Chicago, and San Francisco all raised the rainbow flag. But few cities could compete with the jubilant atmosphere and sheer size of New York City's annual Pride March.
The first March was held in 1970 to commemorate the riots at Stonewall Inn. The year before, police raided the Greenwich Village watering hole, which had become a central location of NYC's underground gay community. Fed up with the ongoing attacks, patrons fought back, stirring a riot and launching the modern day LGBT rights movement.
The March has since expanded to include recognition of the battle against AIDS and to celebrate the progress that has been made.