The annual Pride in Dallas parade, which first began in 1972, returned to the Cedar Springs Strip in Oak Lawn on Sunday.

Photo by Madison Truscan for Dallas Observer

The Texas heat was no match for Pride in Dallas on Sunday. 

Despite the sweltering September afternoon, thousands of people among the Dallas LGBTQ+ community and its allies lined the edges of the Cedar Springs Strip for the annual Pride in Dallas parade. 

This year’s celebration, which is also known as The Michael Doughman Parade on Cedar Springs (we in Dallas are lucky enough to get to celebrate Pride again after the celebrations in June), was preceded by the Big D Day Festival on Saturday. Before the main event on Sunday, pop singer Daya headlined the music showcase the night before, which also featured a lineup of Nashville country trio The Cowgays and Dallas artists Cure for Paranoia and Kameron Ross.

So, by Sunday, Cedar Springs Road had already been doused in palpable joy and all-rainbow everything. And maybe more than a few vodka-sodas. 

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This year’s parade was led by grand marshal Kelexis Davenport, a legend in Dallas drag and a cast member of the iconic Rose Room showgirls at S4. Following her were vibrant floats from various local businesses in Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s float had a recreation of its viral Pride flag-painted steps. Other rainbow-adorned floats featured models of our city’s iconic skyline, flag twirlers, the district’s current Dallas City Councilman Paul Ridley, leather daddies, a litter of pup masks and just about everyone else under the “y’all means all” umbrella. 

Parade attendees traded “Happy Pride” greetings. Wigs in just about every color you can imagine bobbed throughout the road. Trans flag-colored beads soared in the air. The parade’s announcer could be heard saying “Fuck Greg Abbott and fuck Ken Paxton,” before reminding the crowd that Pride began as a riot for LGBTQ+ rights. 

In between the flurry of glitter and confetti, though, a sense of community pulsed through the street. Parade marchers regularly jogged over to say hi to familiar faces they recognized in the crowd. A group of parents doled out “free mom and dad hugs.” And by the time the float carrying local drag and burlesque performer Mulan Alexander made its way through the parade, you could hear parade-goers’ glee as they chanted “look, it’s Mulan!”

Sunday’s celebration, while annual, was the glorious union of a community that refuses to be hidden. And one that knows how to have a damn good time, too.

See the full photo gallery from Sunday’s celebration below. 

All photos by Madison Truscan.