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It was an amazing time, but also terrifying." But I went because I had decided I was gay, and I didn't want others to define me. "I was with a friend, a teacher, and every time he saw a camera, he hid his face. When he marched in the first Gay Pride Parade, on Fifth Avenue in New York, the mood was decidedly less celebratory than Sunday's pageant. He was a newly "out" New Yorker in 1969 when the Stonewall riots erupted and spawned the modern gay rights movement. Perhaps no one was more struck by the generation gap than Arthur Friedman, 67, who was marching with the San Francisco SPCA contingent. Sunny skies and mild weather made for a perfect San Francisco day, as rainbow flags flapped in the breeze and the 200-foot pink triangle on Twin Peaks shone over the city. Thousands lined Market Street for the parade, which culminated with a six-hour party at Civic Center. I tell you, this younger generation is amazing. Johnstone added, "They'll have their own problems, but they'll be up for it.
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It seems like everything has loosened up." They won't have to suffer through that lens of AIDS and death and inequality. "It's so nice to see a generation that doesn't have to face those problems. "We come from a time when things were pretty grim," said David Faulk, 57, who was at the parade with his partner of 18 years, Michael Johnstone, 49. For many veterans of the LGBT movement, the most heartening sight at Sunday's 42nd annual Pride celebration was the thousands of young gay people who appeared to take it all for granted. Forget the legal breakthroughs and political battles.