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| Photo from Gay Pride Direct |
I have not been to a pride parade in about thirteen years. Thirteen is my lucky number, so I'm thinking it's time I checked out an event! The Tucson Pride Parade is tomorrow evening, and I'm going downtown to watch it. This will be my first pride parade that I have attended alone. I used to always go with friends. The first person to take me to a pride parade is someone I always think of when contemplating attending any pride event. He would take a group of us to NYC for their annual parade.
I don't think never attended the NJ Pride Parade in Asbury Park. I remember making plans to go with a group of women, but I don't remember the event at all. At the time I was making the plans, I did not drink alcohol at all, so nobody can claim that I drank too much and experienced memory loss! I can only assume that I had to cancel for some reason.
According to The History of Gay Pride on ehow.com, the first two pride parades occurred concurrently in NYC and Chicago in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Parades were held in nine cities in 1971. Now hundreds are held per year all over the world.
I had been unaware that there was a change in June Pride month in 2009. June had previously been the Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, but Barack Obama changed it to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. He noted that,
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
Tucson's Pride on Parade is held in October instead of June (LGBT Pride Month). I assume this has something to do with the weather, the large number of university folks who leave for the summer, and the snowbirds. Standing in the blazing heat to watch piles of wilted parade marchers go through the streets does not sound like my idea of a good time. Plus, a lot of university folks and snowbirds who flee the heat during the summer months.
2 comments:
Many years ago, a friend and I were walking back crosstown from a rare book store when we happened upon a parade that wasn't on any holiday that we knew of. I didn't know what it was for, but I quickly found out.
The two things I remember the most is how much *fun* everyone was having, and how eerily, utterly silent Manhattan got during the moment of silence for those who died at Stonewall and since. I'll never forget it.
Attending the Tucson parade was very different from my experiences at NYC pride. There was no moment of silence, either.
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