Every color of the rainbow was displayed on the outfits of many attendees and participants of the 2025 Sun City Pride Parade in Downtown El Paso. Sun City Pride, is an organization that plans many pride events around the city and has just celebrated their 19th consecutive year of the parade.
Hundreds of people gathered to embrace pride on The Border. Some were dressed comfortably for the heat, some were covered head to toe in the flag that represents them or with drag makeup, and many waved flags and fans to celebrate themselves and support each other and their identities.
Parade attendee Rachel Ibanez watched with a rainbow umbrella to protect herself from the heat and wore colorful gear to express her pride.
“I’m just out here showing support and for the energy of it all,” Ibanez said. “Everyone’s very kind—it’s a beautiful community, and I want to support it, and you know, make a claim on my own sexual identity.”
Throughout the parade, not only were pride flags displayed on posters and banners, but Mexican flags also hung on cars and were waved in the air to support the intersection of the LGBTQ+ community and the Latinx majority in the city.
Another attendee, Destiny Ibarra, feels as if El Pasoans tend to keep themselves in the closet, but events such as the parade act as a great opportunity to come together.
“I think most of us can agree we were in the closet for a while, so coming out and seeing everyone joyful from small ages to older people—it’s a big thing,” Ibarra said.
Building a community feels especially meaningful to people like attendee, Rebecca De Jesus. She expressed that it’s a crucial step toward progress and acceptance.
“I was nervous to see how many people were going to show up, but it’s nice to see people coming together as a community and to me, community is everything,” De Jesus said. “I wasn’t expecting this turn out. It shows that El Paso is here for each other, and we care for each other and our community. Everyone should be accepted here.”
The parade watchers cheered on as the parade participants continued to drive, dance and march through the remainder of the parade route. The event ended with a gathering at Houston Park, which included vendors, free food,drinks and drag performances.
“Do it! Come to pride,” Ibarra said as advice to those considering attending future pride events. “It’s always the best. You can be yourself and everyone is in a happy mood. Come out, everyone loves each other and that’s the best thing.”
Sun City Pride will be hosting their Pride Month finale Saturday, July 5. “Splashfest,” a combination of their yearly Pride Festival and pool party, will be hosted at Wet n’ Wild Waterworld and organizers hope to create the same safe environment they created during the parade.
Jesie Garcia is the arts and culture editor and may be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @jeslorenwrites.
