[Read our live coverage of and photos from the Pride and Queer Liberation marches.]

There were moments of celebration, moments of contemplation, moments of commemoration — and complaints about commercialization. There were people who were passionate about equal rights and people who reveled in being free to be themselves.

It was the Pride March, a buoyant global celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender identity. It swept down Fifth Avenue and into Greenwich Village at a moment in history that many said was a crucial one, a half-century after the landmark Stonewall uprising: More gay rights have been affirmed than ever before, but L.G.B.T.Q. issues remain a flash point in the nation’s culture wars.

On Sunday, amid the bright palette of rainbow colors on flags and floats, there was awareness — the sober awareness of 50 years of laws and changing attitudes that moved gay men, lesbians and transgender people into the mainstream.

“It’s beautiful to see something like this happen, especially at a time like this and where our country is at politically,” said Joanna Fanizza, who watched the march with her friend Nitya Vink.