At the intersection of 17th and P streets, N.W., the sidewalks were jam-packed with people – adults and many children – on Saturday waving small rainbow flags and cheering as a large contingent of LGBTQ parents and their children walked past the crowd.

They were members of the group Rainbow Families who were among the more than 200 contingents that joined D.C.’s Capital Pride Parade on June 11. Some of the children in the contingent jumped up and down waving small, hand-held rainbow flags under the watchful eyes of their moms and dads.

The Rainbow Families contingent and the PFLAG DC LGBTQ parents contingent marched past the bustling 17th and P intersection, turning onto P Street en route to Dupont Circle about an hour after about a dozen women on motorcycles rode by as part of the LGBTQ Outriders Women’s Motorcycle Club contingent.

The Outriders were the first of the parade contingents to arrive at the 17th and P location. Historically, lesbian motorcyclists, including the famous Dykes on Bikes in past years, have been given the honor of being the very first contingent in D.C.’s Capital Pride Parade as well as in Pride parades in other cities.

Immediately after the Outriders group came a contingent of gay leather clad men riding on their own motorcycles, drawing cheers from the crowd of onlookers.

In the more than three hours that followed, a wide range of other contingents marched, rode in small vehicles, or rode on large floats along the parade route that began at 14th and T Streets, N.W., traveled south along 14th Street to Road Island and Massachusetts Avenues to the 17th and P location before traveling around Dupont Circle to the parade’s end point at 22nd and P Street, N.W.

Among the varied contingents were employees and directors of several D.C. government agencies and departments, including the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, one of whose employees drove by in a large, bright red fire truck.

Many of the contingents represented some of the nation’s most prominent corporations providing both business and customer services. Among them was Marriott International, Inc., the mega hotel chain that acted as the Capital Pride Parade’s lead sponsor.

Others included Amazon, Macy’s, MGM National Harbor, Mastercard and VISA, McDonald’s Restaurants, GEICO auto insurance, Verizon, Walmart, PNC Bank, Dollar Tree & Family Dollar Stores, and United Airlines among many others.

Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s Pride events, including the parade, has come under criticism from some activists, who say Pride parades and festivals in D.C. and other cities have become dominated by corporations and other businesses. Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance executive director, has said corporate sponsors, which have been longtime supporters of LGBTQ equality, have made it possible for nonprofit groups like Capital Pride to pay for large events like parades and street festivals.

The crowds lining the streets along the Capital Pride Parade route cheered loudly as many of the corporate contingents walked and rode on floats past them. According to Bos, the corporate parade contingents consist almost entirely of LGBTQ employees and managers at the various corporations. Many of them waved rainbow flags and blew kisses at the crowd as they marched in the parade.

This year’s D.C. Pride parade had a large number of international contingents, including staff and supporters of the embassies of Canada, Great Brittan, Ireland, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian nations. Also joining the parade was a large contingent of the European Union Delegation to the United States.

Bet Mishpachah, the local D.C.-area LGBTQ synagogue, and the LGBTQ Catholic group Dignity Washington were among the faith-based groups and churches that joined the parade. Others providing parade contingents included the Washington National Cathedral, Church of the Holy Comforter, Church of the Pilgrims, United Methodist Churches of the National Capital Area, and the group Churches United in Pride.

With the parade taking place less than two weeks before D.C.’s June 21 primary election, several of the candidates running for mayor, D.C. Council, and D.C. Attorney General marched in the parade with contingents of various sizes.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who is running for re-election to a third term, appeared to have the largest of the candidate contingents, with about 100 mostly LGBTQ supporters marching behind her wearing bright green ‘Bowser’ T-shirts behind the banner of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At-Large), who is among three candidates challenging Bowser in the June 21 Democratic primary, marched in the parade with a contingent of about 50 or more supporters. Also joining the parade with smaller contingents were the other two mayoral candidates, D.C. Council member Trayon White (D-Ward 8) and community activist James Butler.

Among the other candidates joining the parade with sizable contingents were Salah Czapary, the gay former D.C. police officer running for the Ward 1 D.C. Council seat, and gay D.C. school board president Zachary Parker, who is one of seven candidates running for the Ward 5 D.C. Council seat.

Other candidates who had contingents in the parade were D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) and challenger Erin Palmer, D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), At-Large Council member Anita Bonds and her primary challengers Lisa Gore and Nate Fleming, At-Large Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At-Large), and D.C. Democratic Attorney General candidate Bruce Spiva.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who is not running for re-election, was among the D.C. public officials who marched in the parade.

Two Republican candidates, Giuseppe Niosi, who’s running for an At-Large Council seat, and David Krucoff, who’s running for the Ward 3 Council seat, marched in the parade. Both are running unopposed in the primary.