Thousands in attendance for 2024 Austin Pride Parade

AUSTIN, Texas — Austin’s 2024 Pride Parade was held Saturday; event organizers say over 200,000 were in attendance.

This year, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, led the parade as grand marshal.

“Austin and Travis County have this reputation for being an excepting place,” said Judge Brown.

Alongside Judge Brown were other city leaders like Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, “It’s wonderful– I love the joy of everyone being out here,” he said.

Austin ISD Superintendent Mattias Segura was in the parade, CBS Austin asked him, “What do you think this says about the school district supporting diversity?”

Segura replied, “I think it aligns with our values, that’s who we are. You can’t just talk about it, you gotta be about it.”

But this year’s Pride Parade was met with controversy– another organization holding a counter event.

“It’s all about freedom of being who you are and if people don’t want to be here, that’s okay too,” said Brown.

One group that opted out of the Pride Parade was the Austin for Palestine Coalition.

The group alleged Austin Pride discriminated against them during a meeting last month– singling them out for an organization that might use anti-Jewish rhetoric.

“That really made me angry because one thing I don’t tolerate is lying,” said Austin for Palestine Coalition member, Daniela Silva.

The Austin for Palestine Coalition said they have always denounced Jewish hate speech, and continued with their counter event, despite Austin Pride issuing an apology to the group.

“We’re mainly here for visibility– to show that we support a queer people, we support the LGBTQIA community, and we’re pro-Palestinian,” said Silva.

The Austin Police Department told CBS Austin they had extra officers available Saturday to respond to any issues that might have come during either/both of the events.

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