HOUSTON — One of the biggest Pride celebrations in the nation took place in Houston on Saturday.
Huge crowds showed up to celebrate the 44th annual Pride Houston 365 festival and parade. After a couple years off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston was ready to show up and show off their Pride.
Despite the two-year absence, Houston's Pride celebration lived up to its theme - "The Beat Goes On."
"It feels like home. It feels like a place where everybody’s accepted," said Pride attendee Alex Velez.
Houston's celebration is the third largest in the country.
"The way I look at it is because the line’s long, that means a lot of people are attending and that’s awesome," said Velez.
An important feature of this year's parade was having medical care to address one of the biggest concerns going into the weekend - the heat.
"Listen, I know you were hot. I was hot! We had like 5-10 different water bottles, I lost track," said another Pride attendee, Braysin Cupp.
Even with festivities ringing across the city, for some attendees, the political landscape and the potential implications of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is too much to ignore. Many are worried that the court may target other rights, like same-sex relationships or marriages.
RELATED: Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade weighs heavy on Houstonians celebrating Pride
"I'm legally married to my wife, and if they come through with that... For me, it's not right," said attendee Chula. "Honestly, it's like we don't even know what's to come now."
Despite these fears, Pride is still a celebration of people coming together.
"You're not going to find a more loving place than Pride," said Chula.
There was one person taken into custody near the parade route. According to Houston police, the person, who was at or near Tranquility Park, fired a shot or shots into the ground. At this point, it's not clear why.