Controversy was nowhere to be seen yesterday at the replaced Pride Parade in Auckland, though what it will look like next year is still up for discussion.

Short speeches before the #ourmarch kicked off at 5pm made a call to "stamp our feet and be heard today" as thousands of the LGBTQ+ community gathered to walk through the streets of Auckland CBD.

The event is a replacement of sorts for the traditional Pride Parade down Ponsonby Rd which caused controversy last year after asking police not to attend in uniforms.

The parade followed the Auckland Central graduation route, beginning Albert Park as a nod to LGBTQ+ history in Tāmaki Makaurau, as the site of the first gay liberation protest in 1972.

The march proceeded down Victoria Street, up Queen St to Aotea Square, and culminated in a celebration in Myers Park that will run until 9pm.

Participants gather in Albert Park ahead of #ourmarch. The march is being held in place of the Pride Parade this year. Photo / Tom Dillane

"Stand up, fight back" and "Whose streets? Our streets" the crowd chanted as they walked along Queen St, the majority of it closed off for the event.

Relaxing in Myers Park following the parade Auckland Pride chair Cissy Rock said the event had been a "marvellous" success.

"Everyone who wants to has come out and been involved," Rock said.

"And 2000 plus people walking down the street, watching, clapping and cheering. No issues and so many people to thank. This is about a whole community coming together and putting this on for each other.”

Rock told Francesca Rudkin that she did not want to compare it to the Pride Parade, as this march

“This was about the whole community participating and experiencing what it felt like to be connected and to stand up for things that people believe in.”

The Parade was scrapped after police were banned from walking in uniform over concerns from within the community over police treatment of minorities.

The move was met with backlash with within and outside the community, with corporate sponsors pulling out of the festival. Some sponsors did show up to the march, with a large Spark banner visible amongst the marchers. 

Our March heads down Victoria St. Photo / Tom Dillane

Speaking of the backlash, Rock says she has been very forward-looking during the event.

“There are conversations that our community needs to have with each other, and there are things we need to work out. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

She says they want to find something that is satisfying for everyone in the community, and they need to have different events.

Rock says that people in the LGBTQ+ community wanted to have an event that was more queer, politics and community driven with less of the corporate involvement.

“As a board, we want to make sure no one is left behind. There is more work to be done, and we don’t expect that to be done in a couple of months.”