28 Triumphant Moments From The Smashing NYC Gay Pride Parade

Walter Hickey / Business Insider

Last week the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which forbade the federal government from acknowledging same-sex marriages administered by individual states. 

As a result, LGBT families can finally be seen as equal to straight families in the eyes of the government, something that confers immense legal protections and tax features to the LGBT community. 

The ruling couldn't have come at a better time. Days later, New York City would be celebrating Pride events all weekend, culminating in a Pride Parade of 50 floats and 300 individual contingents down Fifth avenue and into Greenwich Village. 

That scheduled event — which took place earlier today — took on a whole new meaning following the DOMA hearing. Check out these pictures to see why.