Board members
Gary Wilkerson, the founding President of Mid-South Pride and one of the Regional Directors for InterPride's Southern United States Region died on September 28, 2007. Sean Alexander and Kent Hamson took over in his place. It was later passed down to Mike Morgan.
In June 2008 Mid-South Pride brought Peterson Toscano, a former client of the Memphis-based ex-gay program Love in Action and an outspoken ex-ex-gay, back to Memphis to serve as a grand marshal of the pride parade and to perform.
In 2010 the Mid-South Pride Board moved to festival and parade from Cooper Young to Downtown after the city reclassified Peabody Park. They moved to Robert Church Park downtown behind the FedEx Forum.
Also in 2010 the group got new blood with Vanessa Rodley, Patrick Pearson, and Jennifer Murry as volunteers. With there help they took the festival from about 4,000 people to over 15,000 in attendance in 2017. They also had the largest budget in their history. This was also the first pride that made profit.
In 2012 the board added Vanessa Rodley to Vice President, Jennifer Murry to Secretary, and Patrick Pearson as an at large member. Making it a board of 6 which was the largest they had since they started.
The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a pride parade and festival held at the end of June most years in San Francisco, California, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
Heritage of Pride (HOP), doing business as NYC Pride, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that plans and produces the official New York City LGBTQIA+ Pride Week events each June. HOP began working on the events in 1984, taking on the work previously done by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee organizers of the first NYC Pride March in 1970. HOP also took over responsibility for the operations of NYC's Pride Festival and Pride Rally. It was that first march that brought national attention to 1969's Stonewall Riots. The late sixties saw numerous protests and riots across the United States on many social injustices and from general political unrest including the war in Vietnam.
PrideFest is an annual gay pride event held each June in Denver, honoring the culture and heritage of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the State of Colorado. The first "Pride" event in Denver, known as Gay Pride Week, took place June, 1974 and included a "gay-in" in Cheesman Park attended by about fifty people. The first Gay Pride Parade took place in 1975 with approximately 200 people marching along sidewalks to the Civic Center Park unaware that they needed a permit. The first event resembling the present day Denver PrideFest occurred in 1976, the same year the local community center, now known as the Center on Colfax, was founded. The Center organizes and produces the festival and parade each year. The event currently consists of a two-day festival at Civic Center Park, the Pride 5K, and culminates with a parade along Colfax Avenue. Denver PrideFest now draws 525,000 guests annually, making it the third largest pride festival and seventh largest pride parade in the United States.
The LA Pride Festival & Parade, commonly known as LA Pride, is an annual LGBTQ Pride celebration in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest LGBTQ Pride events in the world, traditionally held on the second weekend of June, and produced by the Christopher Street West Association.
The Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival is an annual LGBT Pride event, held each year in Vancouver, British Columbia, to celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. It is run by the Vancouver Pride Society (VPS), a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization that seeks to "produce inclusive, celebratory events, and advocacy for LGBTQAI2S+". Vancouver's Pride Parade is the largest parade of any kind in Western Canada.
The Houston Gay Pride Parade is the major feature of a gay pride festival held annually since 1979. The festival takes place in June to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. This event commemorates the 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Protests against police harassment in Houston also helped bring about the parade.
Indy Pride Festival is the annual week of LGBT pride events in Indianapolis. The week is organized by LGBT organization Indy Pride, Inc., and has been held under this name and organization for over a decade. In recent years, more than 95,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual people have attended the festival. Indy Pride's Parade and Festival is held the 2nd Saturday in June, with a week of events leading up to it, in honor of the Stonewall Riots and in accordance with other United States pride festivals. Indy Pride Festival is the largest LGBT pride event in Indiana.
Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride is held yearly on the next to last weekend in May in Long Beach, California. Long Beach Pride held its first event in 1984 and has since grown to be the second largest gay pride event in the United States. The Pride Celebration is Produced by the non-profit organization called the LBLGP Inc. They operate all year long and donate money to many charitable and other non-profit organizations.
Indy Pride is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a community-based, non-profit organization that seeks "to unite and serve its members and the LGBTQ community of Central Indiana through leadership development, educational and support programs, and community events that achieve inclusivity, equality, strong community connections, and awareness of LGBTQ issues." The organization started in 1995 as the coordinator of the city's annual gay pride parade and event—Indy Pride Festival—but later grew into an umbrella for multiple LGBT community entities, including the Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives, Indy Bag Ladies, and Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival.
Pride Northwest, Inc. is a community-based regional LGBTQ+ Pride 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The non-profit organization was founded in 1994 and the current executive director of the organization is Debra Porta, who has served as the president of Pride Northwest since 2006.
PrideFest St. Louis is an annual LGBT pride event in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is organized by Pride St. Louis, an LGBT non-profit organization in the Greater St. Louis area.
Seattle Pride refers to a series of events which are held annually throughout the month of June to celebrate LGBT Pride in Seattle, Washington. Seattle Pride also refers to the nonprofit organization Seattle Out and Proud which coordinates and promotes LGBTQIA+ events and programs in Seattle year-round including the Seattle Pride Parade.
Pride Winnipeg Festival is a 10-day LGBT pride festival, held annually in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is one of the largest organized pride festivals in central Canada, featuring 10-days of community-organized events, a Dyke March, a rally, Pride Parade, outdoor festival and closing party.
The Cincinnati Pride Parade and Festival is a week-long celebration of the city's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other identities ([LGBTQ+]) community. The festivities are typically held annually at the end of June but have happened as early as April and as late as July in various locations of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Throughout Dallas–Fort Worth, there is a large lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Since 2005, DFW has constituted one of the largest LGBT communities in Texas.
Tucson Lesbian and Gay Alliance, commonly known as Tucson Pride, is an American LGBT pride organization based in Tucson, Arizona.
Sioux Falls Pride, formerly The Center for Equality (CFE), is a non-profit organization in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that supports and celebrates the LGBT community in South Dakota and provides resources for LGBT people and their allies. Completely volunteer-based, the Sioux Falls Pride Board of Directors and Committee work together to hosts the annual Pride event each June along with other events supporting the local LGBT community.
Twin Cities Pride, sometimes Twin Cities LGBT Pride, is an American nonprofit organization in Minnesota that hosts an annual celebration each June that focuses on the LGBT community. The celebration features a pride parade which draws crowds of nearly 400,000 people. The parade was designated the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade in honor of the late former parade organizer and transgender LGBT rights activist. Other Twin Cities Pride events include a festival in Loring Park and a block party spanning multiple days.
TriPride is an annual LGBTQ parade and festival rotating between the cities of the Tri-Cities region in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia: Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia.
Rhode Island Pride is an LGBT organization that serves the Rhode Island LGBTQ community, most notably holding its annual PrideFest in June. The organization traces its roots to the 1976 march, in which 75 individuals protested the city's refusal of a permit to host an official march. Today, Rhode Island Pride is one of the largest and most active LGBTQ organizations in Rhode Island, hosting community events and offering resources to Rhode Island's LGBTQ population.
