Key West celebrated its diversity late Sunday afternoon in the Key West Pride Parade.
Groups wearing vibrant costumes marched down Duval Street, Key West's main street that stretches across the island from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.
Participants carried a 100-foot rainbow flag, a worldwide symbol of gay pride. The flag, created by Gilbert Baker, made up a section of the 1.25-mile-long banner displayed in the Gay Pride procession in 2003, symbolizing sea-to-sea acceptance of diversity in the Florida Keys, according to the Florida Keys News Bureau.
Rainbows were everywhere in Sunday's parade, from hairpieces to sashes and even an umbrella hat. The procession wrapped up the annual five-day festival celebrating Key West's gay community.
Erin Davies, a gay activist, led the procession as grand marshal. When Davies' VW Beetle was defaced with anti-gay graffiti in 2007, she began a 58-day road trip across North America to raise hate crime awareness and promote gay rights. Her VW, coined "Fagbug" after the incident, was in the front of the parade Sunday.
