On Sunday, June 25, New York City's annual Gay Pride Parade marched through the city from Midtown to the West Village. The event has become one of the city's biggest celebrations, and it draws participants and observers from all around the world to celebrate gay culture and tolerance. The parade is the culmination of Gay Pride Week and is always an exuberant and star-studded event.

This year, the Cross Cultural Internship Program (www.fusia.net), an EVP J-1 Intern program sponsored by FUSIA, was in attendance, as a group of exchange visitors traveled into the city to see the parade. It was the first year the program has attended the parade, and it definitely made an impression on the visitors.

"There are so many participants," Basil from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said. "It was such an eye-opening experience considering the parade here in the States is so much larger in scale than that in Hong Kong."

CCIP affords the exchange visitors many opportunities to experience American culture firsthand. For many of the participants, this is their first time in the United States, so they are gaining a brand new perspective on America.

"Every week, I'm seeing a new part of America," said Dora from the Hong Kong Shue Yan University. "America is a place where each and every individual's rights are being valued."