Boston Pride for the People Parade is set to step off, with history, protest in mind

Rainbow flags are flying in the South End as the neighborhood prepares to celebrate Boston’s LGBTQ community at Saturday’s Pride for the People Parade.

Three hundred different organizations with about 12,000 people are expected to participate in what will be the city’s nearly 60th Pride parade.

”There are still things that we are fighting for today, and so we want to remember those that fought before us,” said Adrianna Boulin, of Boston Pride for the People.

The Pride for the People Parade and Festival is happening Saturday in Boston, among other events across New England.

This year’s theme is Pride as Protest – 1776, and organizers say Pride will always be a protest.

“The fact that we are here, the fact that in the midst of what is really an attack LGBTQ people’s rights by legislatures across the country, by our own federal government — we’re here to protest and say we’re not going anywhere,” said Gary Daffin of Boston Pride for the People.

The parade is nearly 2 miles. It starts in Copley Square and works its way through a number of streets in the South End and the Back Bay before ending on Charles Street between the Public Garden and the Common.

Not going to the parade? Watch NBC10 Boston’s coverage wherever you get your news, starting at 11 a.m. Saturday.