Joseph Caputo discusses the history and significance of the world’s biggest Pride festivities.
Everyone remembers their first pride. I was 18 years old and in New York City, wearing a rainbow bracelet made of beads that looked like Skittles. I stood by myself near groups of tourists on a sidewalk off 34th Street, quietly watching in a robin’s-egg-blue shirt too tight for even my twink frame. But I was gay and it was pride, so the world was going to have to deal with my self-expression.
The march was the first time I had been around so many other queer people. I was reserved and clapped politely as the first leather daddies and feather-clad drag queens passed by, posing for pictures. I felt oddly detached seeing characters who’d only existed in movies or gay history books thus far. This was the community I had been longing for and I didn’t know what to do next.
The connection I needed came when the ground started rumbling and lesbians on motorcycles (a.k.a. dykes on bikes) tore down the parade route. I waved and cheered louder than the tourists as the women gave thumbs up and smiled from their customized vehicles. The gay rights movement fought for that moment. It fought for the PFLAG mom holding anti-discrimination signs next to her daughter. It fought for the soldier risking everything for his boyfriend back home. And it fought for me to not feel alone.
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Since 1969, pride parades have allowed queer people to shed their invisibility and demonstrate their presence in the community. Traditional pride celebrations usually begin in June and continue through the summer to commemorate the Stonewall riots in New York City that sparked the gay rights movement. Pride marches take place in at least 200 cities around the world, combining activism, politics, and celebrity with rainbow flags and club music. Here are some festivities you don’t want to miss:
Boston, Massachusetts: Equality: No More. No Less.
June 3–12, 2011
Despite Boston’s Puritanical ways, the city has long been a hub for nonconformists. Although the settlers had low regard for buggery, by the 1930s artistic types had found a home, setting up Boston marriages and cruising in the Common. Legal same-sex marriage began on May 17, 2004, in Massachusetts and at least 11,000 couples have been wed so far. The theme of 2011 Boston Pride continues to place the city as an equality trendsetter.
“We insist on the same rights, dignity, protection, access and opportunities in our towns, cities, countries and worldwide,” reads the Boston Pride website. Events include a dyke march, a trans pride party, a concert by the Go-Gos and B-52s and the parade being marshaled by LGBT legal advocate John Affuso and the staff of Community Servings, an organization that home-delivers meals to people living with AIDS.
Cape Town, South Africa: Love Our Diversity
February 25–March 6, 2011
South Africa is a leader in international LGBT rights, but life as an openly gay man or woman carries some risks. In May of 1996, the country’s post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to include sexual orientation protection. Today it is the only African country to host pride celebrations on the African continent. Despite the victories, gay rights activists condemn the government for allowing a rise in hate crimes against LGBT people, especially “corrective rapes” of lesbian women. Thousands participated in the Cape Town Pride festivities this year, which included a Mr. and Ms. Cape Town Pride Pageant, a film festival, a healthy relationship workshop and a hike up Lion’s Head Mountain to enjoy the sunset.
Tel Aviv, Israel: Gay Vibe
June 2–10, 2011
The “gay capital of the Middle East” knows how to throw a parade. “The tradition began with just a couple of hundred partiers, and has grown rapidly into an event with over 100,000 participants that seems to get wetter and wilder every year,” wrote a realtelaviv.com blogger. The mayor will kick off the DJ-heavy parade, which ends at Gordon beach. Visitors are encouraged to bring their bathing suits. Although Tel Aviv has a lot to celebrate, there is still work to be done. The parade takes place two years after an unsolved shooting at a Tel Aviv branch of the Israeli GLBT Association that took the lives of two people and injured fifteen others.
San Francisco, California: In Pride We Trust
June 25–26, 2011
San Francisco may no longer be the gayest city in America—Minneapolis currently has the crown—but its place in LGBT history is permanently reserved. In 1978, the city elected the first openly gay politician in America, Harvey Milk, and in 1981, San Francisco General Hospital admitted the first AIDS patient. The 41st anniversary of the first San Francisco Pride celebration includes Main Stage performances by artists including Sandra Bernhard, Luciana, Jessica 6, and Deep Dark Robot. The parade features over a dozen grand marshals including trans advocate Chaz Bono, actress Olympia Dukakis, and Top Chef Yigit Pura. GLBT suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project and the recently opened GLBT Historical Society and History Museum will also be honored.
Melbourne, Australia: Leather Pride
April 8–26, 2011
The rainbow flag isn’t the only one flying at pride celebrations. The Leather Pride Flag premiered at a 1989 International Mister Leather Contest in Chicago. Its pattern of blue, black, and white stripes with a large red heart in the upper left corner is now a popular sight at fetish events. This year marked the third annual Leather Pride Festival in Melbourne. Festivities included a tattoo competition, leather fair, and the crowning (or sashing) of Mr. Leather Australia and New Zealand. Workshops throughout the festival reviewed safety and best practices for adult activities like electrosex and flogging. Arts events, like the Sex (Poetry) Slam, provided cultural breaks between parties.
Sao Paulo, Brazil: Love One Another. Enough With Homophobia.
June 23–27, 2011
Over 3.2 million people come to Sao Paulo to take part in the world’s largest GLBT pride parade, which attracted just 2,000 people when it first took place in 1997. Approximately 2,000 police officers are needed to patrol the event, which is heavily supported by the government and brings in millions of tourism dollars. The parade may include Carnival-style costumes and musical floats, but organizers stick to the political and social issues such as HIV/AIDS and the thousands of gay people who have been killed due to their sexuality. Other big events include a series of debates and an LGBT cultural fair.
Rome, Italy: Build Your Pride!
June 2–12, 2011
This is Lady Gaga’s pride party. Europride is a pan-continental pride festival that has moved from city to city each year since 1992. The “Born this Way” singer would nod in agreement to this year’s theme of self-acceptance. “Being proud means being able to choose—with our heads held high—how to live our lives with awareness and in freedom, while recognizing the same level of freedom for everyone else,” the event website states. In addition to the usual parade, which winds around the historical streets of Rome past the Coliseum and Circo Massimo, the Europride festivities include a not-so-subtle “Drink & Fuck” party as well as three separate events for bears, big bears and polar bears—and they don’t mean the animal.
New York City, New York: Proud and Powerful
June 18–26, 2011
The angry drag queens and gay boys who incited the Stonewall Riots in 1969 are remembered each year as the residents of New York City march from Midtown Manhattan to the streets of Greenwich Village. Gay rights activists continue to be celebrated as the parade features grand marshals like Dan Savage and Terry Miller of It Gets Better Project fame as well as the Rev. Pat Bumgardner, who founded the Sylvia Rivera Memorial Food Pantry to address hunger and homeless. Despite the big names, charges that the festivities have been taken over by corporations plague Heritage of Pride, the non-profit that organizes the events. This year’s sponsors include SKYY Vodka, Macy’s, and Wells Fargo.
—Photo Kevin Coles/Flickr