--- title: Mardi Gras: 'Backwards' Parade Supports LGBTQ Community description: Four hundred people marched backwards for a Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans to show their support for the LGBTQ community. canonical: https://time.com/4684814/mardi-gras-backwards-parade/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-28T21:39:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:46:30.004Z og:title: See a Mardi Gras Parade March Backwards for LGBTQ Rights og:description: "We're never going back" og:url: https://time.com/4684814/mardi-gras-backwards-parade/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See a Mardi Gras Parade March Backwards for LGBTQ Rights twitter:description: "We're never going back" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Mardi Gras Parade Marches Backwards to Show Support for LGBTQ Community > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 28, 2017 9:39 PM UTC by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Feb 28, 2017 9:39 PM UTC People marching in a recent Mardi Gras parade showed their support for the [LGBTQ community](http://time.com/4639152/mike-pence-queer-dance-party/) by literally marching backwards. Topped off with candy-colored makeup and wigs, 400 people gathered behind a rainbow banner with the words “We’re Never Going Back” on Feb. 12 to defy [rising hate crimes](http://time.com/4573130/racist-incidents-hate-crimes-us/) in the U.S. New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation’s organizers held the daylong event as a reminder that New Orleans “is a city for everyone and all are welcome,” CEO and president Mark Romig told TIME.  Courtesy of 360i The Department of Justice’s decision to roll back a key part of Obama’s strategy to support transgender students has sparked fear within the [LGBTQ community](http://time.com/4672279/donald-trump-transgender-rights/). Others have voiced concern with Vice President Mike Pence’s [legislation history](http://time.com/3764169/mike-pence-indiana-religious-freedom-2016-presidential-race/). But the parade was less a protest of the Trump Administration’s policies and more of an effort to prove the French Quarter is distinctly pro-inclusion.  Courtesy of 360i A Facebook post promoting the mission helped attract attorney Traetrece Harrison, 49, to the cause. “The whole purpose is to show we’re not going backwards we’re moving forward,” she told TIME. She continued: “It seems like people are feeling emboldened to say and do racist things and target certain groups. We want to send a message in light of the recent negativity. We don’t judge, and this is a safe place for people to come and be themselves without getting discriminated against or looked at differently. If you’re gay, straight, transgender or bi, we’ll welcome you with open arms.”  Courtesy of 360i Video of the parade below shows Harrison in a red dress and white wig marching alongside fellow participants in boas, wedding rings and neon makeup. But the march backwards for inclusivity wasn’t sobering for long. 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