Close to 100 UFT members joined with thousands of other revelers in this year’s jubilant Pride March on June 28, just two days after the Supreme Court declared marriage equality the law of the land. The historic civil rights victory put an extra bounce in participants’ steps as they marched and danced their way down the Fifth Avenue parade route in Manhattan waving the rainbow flags that have become iconic in the LGBTQ movement. “Gay rights is a civil and human rights issue and should be supported,” said District 79 Representative Patty Crispino, who worked with UFT Director of Parent and Community Outreach Anthony Harmon to organize the union’s participation in the parade. She said educators serve as important role models for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. “If they know that their teachers support gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues, we can help lower the rate of suicide and also give children the comfort to be able to go to someone to talk to them,” she said. Shoshana Berkovic, a 9th-grade biology teacher at New Utrecht HS in Brooklyn, said the union’s involvement is important because it sends a message to members who are gay that they are supported for who they are. “A lot of people are afraid,” she said. “I’m hoping it will increase acceptance.” For first-year chorus teacher Evan Wichman, from Maspeth HS in Queens, the march was also a chance to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in such an historic event,” Wichman said. “I know the union marches every year, but this particular year was a special one.” 

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