--- title: New York Gay Pride Parade 2015: NYPD Police Officer Dances description: A beautiful, beautiful moment canonical: https://time.com/3940192/nypd-officer-dances-nyc-gay-pride-parade/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-29T17:43:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:41.183Z og:title: Watch an NYPD Officer Dance With a Gay Pride Parade Marcher og:description: A beautiful, beautiful moment og:url: https://time.com/3940192/nypd-officer-dances-nyc-gay-pride-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: Watch an NYPD Officer Dance With a Gay Pride Parade Marcher twitter:description: A beautiful, beautiful moment twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch an NYPD Officer Dance With a Gay Pride Parade Marcher > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=e7af1762-a5f5-4060-ad06-66e2fccc19cb&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: This is The History of the Rainbow Flag [Watch (HLS stream): This is The History of the Rainbow Flag](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bnTiT5cr.m3u8) (1:31)  _Published 2015-06-24. How the rainbow flag became an icon of LGBT rights_ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 29, 2015 5:43 PM UTC by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 29, 2015 5:43 PM UTC Most New York City police officers remained stoic at Sunday’s annual gay pride parade, but one officer went above the call of duty. Way above. The officer — whose identity is sadly unknown — joined in on the festivities by showing off some dirty dance moves. (You can enjoy a taste of said moves in the video above.) Paige Ponzeka, a member of an LGBT softball league, posted the clip [to YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl972jf8cs4&feature=youtu.be) after the parade. One of Ponzeka’s fellow marchers, Aaron Santis, [told BuzzFeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/new-yorks-finest#.sdYe0boJB) that he’d been trying (and failing) to get cops to dance with him all day. Finally, his plan worked. “I didn’t expect him to get into it as much as he did,” Santis said. “The crowd just loved it and I think it made him want to dance more.” He added: “It was such a fun moment. He was such a good sport and I’m so glad he decided to dance.” This certainly gives new meaning to the old [NYPD nickname ](http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/home/home.shtml)“New York’s Finest.” ### See Gay Pride Parades from Around the World  A couple kiss in Trafalgar Square after the annual Pride in London Parade on June 27, 2015 in London. Rob Stothard—Getty Images  Actor Ian McKellen waves to the crowd as he attends as grand marshal during the annual Gay Pride parade in New York City on June 28, 2015. Eduardo Munoz—Reuters  A couple carry an American flag and a rainbow flag during the annual Gay Pride parade in New York on June 28, 2015. Eduardo Munoz—Reuters  A reveler attends the annual Pride in London Parade on June 27, 2015 in London. Rob Stothard—Getty Images  People take part in the annual Gay Pride Parade on June 27, 2015 in Dublin. Clodagh Kilcoyne—Getty Images  Fifty thousand people walk on the street for gay lesbian and diversity rights in Milan on June 27, 2015. Roberto Finizio—Pacific Press/Corbis  People march in front of the Colosseum during the Gay Pride Parade (LGBT) on June 13, 2015 in Rome. Filippo Monteforte—AFP/Getty Images  Israelis and foreigners celebrate during the 17th annual gay pride parade in Tel Aviv on June 12, 2015. Menahem Kahana—AFP/Getty Images  A reveler takes part in the "Proud to be yourself" gay pride parade with his dogs in Santiago on June 27, 2015. Vladimir Rodas—AFP/Getty Images  A participant takes part in the annual Pride in London Parade on June 27, 2015 in London. Neil Hall—Reuters  People take part in the annual Pride in London Parade on June 27, 2015 in London. Rob Stothard—Getty Images  A man waves the Rainbow flag on a truck during the annual Gay Pride parade in central Sofia, Bulgaria on June 27, 2015. Nikolay Doychinov—AFP/Getty Images  Revelers with skull masks take part in a Gay Pride parade in Panama City on June 27, 2015. Carlos Jasso—Reuters  A participant in the Pride March against discrimination in Manila on June 27, 2015. Ritchie B. Tongo—EPA  Participants march during a Gay Pride Parade in Mexico City on June 27, 2015. Edgard Garrido—Reuters  Participants of Sao Paulo's 19th annual Gay Pride Parade hold a large flag with the LGBT colors in Sao Paulo on June 7, 2015. Tiago Mazza Chiaravalloti—NurPhoto/Corbis  Participants of the 20th 'Regenbogenparade' (Rainbow Parade) wearing body paint march on the Ringstrasse in Vienna on June 20, 2015. Herbert P. Oczeret—EPA  Costumed people attend the Christopher Street Day, CSD, gay pride parade in front of the Semper Opera in Dresden, Germany on June 6, 2015. Jens Meyer—AP  Keira Phair, of Westchester, Ohio, holds a rainbow flag during the Cincinnati Pride parade on June 27, 2015, in Cincinnati. John Minchillo—AP  Revelers run under a huge rainbow flag during a Gay Pride parade in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on June 21, 2015. Jose Luis Gonzalez—Reuters ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The rainbow flag is a worldwide symbol of the LGBT community, but it's birthplace is in San Francisco and it's creation is thanks to a man named Gilbert Baker. Baker moved to San Francisco as an Army draftee in 1970. It was there that he became acquainted with Harvey Milk and they gay rights movement. Gay rights now. After sewing many banners for gay events and marches, the San Francisco Gay and **** Pride Parade commissioned him to design a symbol that could be used for years to come. And this is what Baker came up with the original rainbow flag. The rainbow is a beautiful part of nature. All of the colors and even the colors you can't see. So that really fit us as a people because we are all of the colors. Our sexuality is all of the colors, where all the genders, races and ages. Each color represents something different Pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for the human spirit. The flag later evolved to have six stripes. Turquoise was swapped for blue and pink and indigo were taken out. 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