GLBT Pride Festivals

[Wildflower Fever]

Hi, all. Although I'm not gay (not that it matters, obviously), I regularily attend Minneapolis' GLBT Pride Festival (supposedly one of the better in the nation) every summer. It's held in both the Loring Park and Downtown areas, which are right in my backyard, and I always have a lot of fun. That, and being straight in my neighborhood leaves me in the minority, and this has helped broaden my perspective. My question is, are these festivals held generally on the same date nationwide? Forgive my ignorance, :o , but I was wondering as I think I heard a Air America radio show mentioning other nationwide festivities this weekend, as well. Thanks.:)

[Oak Kitten]

Wildflower,

I am not gay either, but I can set you straight (pun fully intended). The gay pride festivals are organized to commemorate the Stonewall "Riots" that occurred in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969.

Back in 1953, President Eisenhower signed an Executive Order barring gays and lesbians from all federal jobs. Following the President's lead, government organizations such as the FBI and the military intelligence services conducted surveillance of people whom they suspected were gay and were thus a danger to the "American way of Life," - threats to the national security.

This in turn encouraged local police forces to harrass gays and lesbians. Vice squads conducted raids and arrested thousands of citizens for being gay. When police raided the Stonewall Inn in 1967 - they got a surprise - this time the gay patrons fought back. The event made the national news and catalyzed a nascent gay rights movement that took its inspiration from the women's and civil rights movements. The number of gay rights organizations expanded dramatically, from about 50 in 1969 to almost 800 by 1973. In 1970, 5,000 gay men and lesbians marched in a parade to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, and the parades have expanded across the country since then.

Most gay pride parades/festivals take place toward the end of June to coincide with the anniversary.

Oak

[Wildflower Fever]

Thanks, Oak. I've always been aware of the other nationwide festivals, but I just wasn't sure if they always coincided to show solidarity, and now I know.

[Dar]

The dates of the parades really vary, but generally they are always in June. The most common date is the last Sunday in June, but LA had theirs on June 10 and other cities may pick other Sundays.

I know that Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and Atlanta all celebrate this coming Sunday.

Here in San Francisco, the whole month is Gay Pride month. yeah yeah I know, really it's always Gay Pride time here, but in June, the city hangs rainbow flags all along the main street...Market Street, yesterday's Sunday paper had a huge section devoted to talking about all the festivities. There is a film festival and on Saturday there is a 5 and 10K run through Golden Gate Park that raises money for Aids Organizations. And the local PBS station often airs gay friendly/ gay themed specials. Oh, plus one of the local networks actually airs the entire parade....think Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade....only with drag queens and rainbow flags.

[Wildflower Fever]

Thanks, Dar. San Fran sounds similar to the Minneapolis event, although I'm sure ours pales in comparative size. On a sidenote, believe it or not, I think the Twin Cities ranks very high nationally in gays per capita (top 5?), even though we're marooned in the Midwest. I think this weekends event is for 3 days, and on Saturday night, a major thoroughfare downtown is shut down for a free concert, usually with top-tier performers. My neighborhood is also adorned with rainbow flags, and I'd say at least half the cars have either a rainbow themed bumper-sticker, or the ever-present "equal sign" sticker. To think as recently as the 60's Loring Park was a haven for straight-on-gay hate crimes, and now diversity has taken ownership of the neighborhood for good.:) Just found this link, for the heck of it. http://www.tcpride.org/index_main.php, turns out it was the nations 3rd largest GLBT Pride event last year. The main stage is sponsored by locally based Best Buy, but Taylor Dayne is the best headliner they could get, I guess, oh well.