(Participant of the NYC Pride Parade marches on / Shoko Oda)

Pride parades in the US date back to 1969 when the Stonewall riots paved way for the LGBT rights movement.

After a police raid at Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York, on June 1969, violent protests erupted, continuing for the next six days.

To commemorate the riots, the first of many gay pride parades took place on the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. 

ALSO SEE: 1970: A First-Person Account of the First Gay Pride March 

This year's parade came days after the Supreme Court struck down The Defense of Marriage Act, known widely as DOMA. On the morning of June 26, the Court found DOMA unconstitutional in a 5-4 vote, ruling that it deprived of equal liberty as protected by the Fifth Amendment. In regards to Proposition 8,which banned same-sex marriage in California, the Court ruled in another 5-4 vote that "Prop 8 proponents lacked legal standing to appeal a lower-court ruling that invalidated the law." 

Same-sex marriages have resumed in California following the ruling. 

DOMA may be struck down, but questions and concerns remain for same-sex couples.

"Striking down DOMA is a great step forward, obviously," said Ari Ezra Waldman, the Associate Director of the Institute for Information Law at New York Law School, to NPR. "But there will be difficult complications to work out." 

ALSO SEE: After DOMA: What's Next For Gay Married Couples 

But on Sunday, June 30, despite the remaining obstacles and the gloomy weather, participants of NYC Pride Parade partied down 5th Avenue in colorful and eccentric costumes.

Edie Windsor, the woman who initiated the fight against DOMA was honored as one of the Grand Marshals of this year's parade. Senator Chuck Schumer and New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner also participated in the festivities. 

Reach Staff Reporter Shoko Oda here. Follow her here.