New York: Five decades of LGBTQ pride were celebrated on Sunday as crowds gathered outside New York's historic Stonewall Inn to mark the 50th anniversary of the police raid that sparked the gay rights movement.

More than 2000 people gathered for the Queer Liberation March outside the bar where patrons resisted a police raid in 1969.

Sunday's march was intended to counter the larger Pride parade slated for later in the day. Critics say Pride has become too commercialised and too heavily policed.

Celia Gooding and Laila Kelly in front of the Stonewall Inn ahead of the Queer Liberation March in New York on Sunday. Credit:AP

"What's important to remember is that this is a protest against the monetisation of the Pride parade, against the police brutality of our community, against the poor treatment of sections of our community, of black and brown folk, of immigrants," said Jake Seller, a 24-year-old Indiana native who now lives in Brooklyn and worked as one of the march's volunteers.