New York City's 44th annual Gay Pride March kicks off at noon on Sunday, June 29, celebrating recent victories for LGBT rights. The March, more commonly referred to as the Pride Parade, will travel from 36th Street and Fifth Avenue and travel downtown, winding west until it finishes at Christopher and Greenwich Streets.

Sunday's grand marshals include Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black" star Laverne Cox, Disney's "Frozen" actor Jonathan Groff and the executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Rea Carey. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and "Scandal" actor Dan Bucatinsky are also expected to attend. The march is meant as both a celebration of the LGBT community as well as a memorial to those lost to AIDS and hate crime.

Each year the march draws thousands of spectators, and at the 2013 event, over 300 marching units and 50 floats all strolled through Manhattan to show their pride. And according to NYCpride.org, there are even more expected groups in 2014. New York's Gay Pride March includes activists, politicians, nonprofit organizations, corporate sponsors and community groups on its roster.

In 2014, there is much to celebrate. States across the nation have been striking down anti-gay legislation, making it possible for more couples to get married and have the same freedoms as their heterosexual neighbors. Athletes in the NFL and NBA have come out and largely been applauded for their courage.

New this year is #Pridecast, a live broadcast via YouTube, as part of a partnership between NYC Pride, Google and Mashable. The video stream will feature views of the parade as well as interviews with advocates and allies of the LGBT community over Google Hangouts.

The final location and timing of the march is significant with the parade concluding in front of the infamous gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, where a police raid on June 28, 1969, led to riots for gay and lesbian right ensued. These protests sparked more LGBT activism, and after 45 years, the struggle for national and global equality continues.