The home of the gay rights movement, today many American cities continue to champion the legacy set by New York in 1969. Gay pride parades are a firm fixture on the calendar – and this is your chance to celebrate diversity in all its spectacular forms, while at the same time remembering the hard-fought achievements over the past four decades.
Here are our top five American pride parades.
New York
Beginning the year after the now infamous Stonewall riots, New York City’s pride parade is the oldest march for gay equality in the world. From these ominous beginnings, today’s event is a celebration of diversity that’s held in June and attracts around 750,000 people. Symbolically, the parade route includes the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street and starts at midday at 36th Street and 5th Avenue.
Miami
Miami’s dedicated pride festival was held for the first time in April 2009. Set aside the entire weekend in April to experience it all – as many of the city’s bars and clubs host parties to get you in the mood. The parade kicks off at midday on the Sunday and moves along Ocean Drive from 5th to 15th Street. Following the formalities, the party continues in Lummus Park where the crowd continues to groove to big name artists.
San Francisco
From humble beginnings when activists staged a gay-in in Golden Gate Park in 1970, the San Francisco Pride has ballooned to attract more than one million enthusiasts determined to party-it-up San Fran style. This is the largest LGBT festival in America. The celebrations take place over a weekend in late June with the parade beginning at 10.30 on the Sunday morning. More than 200 floats entertain onlookers from intersection of Market and Beale Street and finish at Market and 8th Street in the heart of the city.
Chicago
One year after the Stonewall Riot, Chicago held its first Pride Parade; around 200 participants gathered at Bughouse Square and marched to the Civic Centre. Today however over 800,000 spectators cheer on the 250 floats that move through the streets of central Chicago from Montrose to Broadway and onto Cannon Drive. The Parade is the centrepiece of a month-long calendar of events that celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Boston Pride Week
The Boston Pride Week is held in the first week of June and attracts around 400,000 revellers. The annual event, which began in 1970, begins with a flag raising ceremony on the City Hall Plaza on the Friday and culminates with a huge party on the second Sunday. To support the 35,000 participants in the parade, take up a spot along Tremont Street between Massachusetts Avenue and Dartmouth Street.
Lyndon Barnett is an established copywriter who has travelled to over 70 countries and kindly curated this guest post.
