Gay pride was on full display along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Sunday as hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the 40th anniversary of the modern gay rights movement.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered along Fifth Avenue from Midtown to the West Village to cheer on marchers, floats and bands.

"It's nice to look around and not feel like an outsider for once," said parade-goer Chris Noble.

"It is absolutely amazing and I wish on a day-to-day basis we could see love and support like this," said Matthew Perosi, another parade-goer.

Organizers of the parade say the fight is still going on as state lawmakers consider legislation to legalize gay marriage. Governor David Paterson, a long-time advocate for gay rights, served as one of the parade's grand marshals this year.

"If we have an end to the stalemate in Albany, I think it would be passed shortly after," said Paterson.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn says she was hoping this year participants could celebrate the new law.

"We definitely had high hopes that today would be maybe the most celebratory parade I'd ever participated in and a lot of people had ever participated in. That's clearly not the case. And that's very, very disappointing, there's no two ways about that," said Quinn.

"Hopefully things will change," said parade-goer Tracy Ruttkep. "Things have changed a lot over the years, but hopefully they will change even more."

The march began as a gay rights demonstration in 1970 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.