NEW YORK — Rainbow flags were held high along with portraits of the dead as thousands of people marched Sunday in gay pride parades tempered by this month's massacre at a Florida gay nightclub.

Crowds of onlookers stood a dozen deep along Fifth Avenue for New York City's parade. Some spectators held up orange “We are Orlando” signs. An announcer introducing state officials and guests also shouted out “Love is love! New York is Orlando!” in memory of the 49 killed in Florida. Elected officials turned out in force, as did presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

New York's parade was one of several held Sunday across the country. The festivities came two weeks after the nation's deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

In Chicago, 49 marchers at the head of the parade each held aloft a poster-sized photograph of a different Orlando victim as the procession wound through the city. Above each photo were the words “Never forget.”

Despite the somber start, paradegoers seemed as enthusiastic as ever once marchers and floats began moving, cheering and dancing along the route.

Many participants said the tributes to the dead in Orlando didn't dampen the energy and fun associated with the pride parade.

“It is another on a list of brutalities over the years (against gays),” said Joe Conklin, 74, of Chicago. “We're aware of Orlando but not overwhelmed by it.”

There was a similar feeling in San Francisco, where men in glittery white wings walked on stilts and women in leather pants rode motorcycles as the parade moved along.

Richel Desamparado, of Oakland, Calif., was marching and carrying a photo of Orlando victim Stanley Almodovar III. She said she felt the need to remind people that the fight for equality is not over.

“A lot of my gay friends and relatives are still being shunned away by their families and communities,” said Desamparado, 31. “People need to remember we're still fighting for equality.”

The events saw increased security.

New York police deployed roving counterterrorism units and used bomb-sniffing dogs, rooftop observation posts, police helicopters and thousands of officers to provide extra layers of security at Sunday's parade. Thousands of uniformed officers lined the route, supplemented by plainclothes officers in the crowd.

San Francisco spectators faced metal detectors for the first time, and more police than usual were keeping watch.

Chicago police put 200 more officers than usual on duty for the city's pride parade Sunday. Organizers nearly doubled their corps of private security agents, to 160.