Phoenix Pride (formerly known as Phoenix Pride March & Rally, [1] Desert Pride, [2] Arizona Central Pride, [2] and Phoenix Pride Festival [2] ) is a parade and festival held each year in Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies.
Unlike other pride parades in major US cities, which is held in June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, [3] Phoenix Pride has been held outside of the summer months in Arizona since at least 2004, [4] due to high summer temperatures. [5] [6]
Phoenix has had a history of hosting gay pride-themed events even before the first pride parade was held in 1981. [1] In June 1977, the first gay pride week was organized in Phoenix by the city’s LGBTQ+ community at the time. [1]
The first pride parade in Phoenix took place in 1981, and it was organized by the Lesbian & Gay Pride Planning Committee, which was led by Kirk Baxter and BJ Bud. [1] The first parade was a march from Patriots Square Park (now the site of CityScape) to the Arizona State Capitol. [4] The event was a politically focused march that aimed to bring awareness to LGBT rights issues in the Phoenix area. [4] Newspaper reports at the time estimated 600 to 1,000 people attended the evening march, [7] although later research has put the figure to over 700 people having taken part. [1]
From 1983 to 1985, the march took place on a portion of Phoenix's Central Avenue Corridor, [4] and the event in 1987 became politically focused once again, as it was combined with an event aimed at recalling controversial Governor Evan Mecham. [4]
A non-profit organization was established to coordinate the pride festival in 1991. [4] That same year, after a decade of hosting the event in Phoenix, the pride festival was moved to Tempe Diablo Stadium. [4]
The event was moved to Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix in 1998, and moved to Steele Indian School Park in 2003, where it is still being held to this day. [4]
In 2020, the parade and festival was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with event organizers saying they will reschedule the event to a time during the fall. [8] Days after the announcement to postpone was made, organizers announced an alternative date of November 7 and 8. [9] [ non-primary source needed ] 2020's parade was later rescheduled to 2021, in effect cancelling Phoenix Pride for 2020. [10]
Year | Dates | Theme/Slogan | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | June [1] | We Are Here | March: Patriots Square Park to Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Lesbian activist Arlie Scott and Leonard Matlovich. [4] |
1982 | We are Family | March: Patriots Square Park to Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Charlotte Bunch. 17 people walked to the event from Tucson. [4] | |
1983 | Uniting for Freedom, Recognition, and Understanding | March: Central Avenue, Phoenix Rally: Phoenix Civic Plaza (now Phoenix Convention Center), Phoenix | Keynote speaker: David Clarenbach [4] | |
1984 | Unity and More in ’84 | March: Central Avenue, Phoenix Rally: Phoenix Civic Plaza (now Phoenix Convention Center), Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Flo Kennedy [4] | |
1985 | Our Future in Our Hands | March: Central Avenue, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: John Heilman [4] | |
1986 | Phoenix Pride Emerging | Event: South Mountain Park, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Cleve Jones [4] | |
1987 | Silent No More / Hands Across the Capitol | Rally: Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix | Participants held hands, and surrounded the Arizona State Capitol. [4] | |
1988 | Unity ’88 | Festival: Phoenix Civic Plaza (now Phoenix Convention Center), Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Carolyn Warner. [4] | |
1989 | Stonewall Remembered | March: Patriots Square Park to Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix Rally: Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Karen Thompson. [4] | |
1990 | A New Decade of Pride | Festival: El Lienzo Charro Rodeo Grounds, Phoenix | Keynote speaker: Lynn Lavner. [4] | |
1991 | Desert Pride: It’s Hot | Festival: Kiwanis Park, Tempe | ||
1992 | Pride = Power: A Simple Matter of Justice | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | ||
1993 | A Family of Pride | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | ||
1994 | Stonewall 25: A Global Celebration of Pride | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | Festival expands to becoming a three-day event. [4] | |
1995 | Discover Pride | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | ||
1996 | May 31 – June 2 [11] | Discover: Pride Without Borders | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | |
1997 | June (Festival) April (Parade) [4] | Pride…Equality Through Visibility | Festival: Tempe Diablo Stadium, Tempe | |
1998 | Pride 98…A Gateway to Change | Festival: Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix | ||
1999 | Millions of Lives…One Voice in Pride | Festival: Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix | First year of 5K Pride Run [4] | |
2000 | April 14 (Pageant) April 15 (Parade) [12] | One Heart, One Mind, One Vision, Take Pride, Take Joy, Take Action | Festival: Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix | The Transgender Pride Flag made its debut during this year's event. [13] |
2001 | June | What Part of Equal Don't You Understand | Festival: Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix | |
2002 | For One Day Feel Like the Majority | Festival: Margaret T. Hance Park, Phoenix | ||
2003 | Let Your Pride Be Your Guide | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | First year the pride parade headed in a northerly direction. [4] | |
2004 | April 3 (Parade) April 4 (Festival) | Celebrating Rainbow Flag 25 | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | First ever Phoenix Gay Pride Week proclamation made by then Mayor Phil Gordon. [4] |
2005 | April 2 (Parade) April 2–3 (Festival) | 25 Years of Pride in Phoenix | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | 5K Pride Run held on April 3. [4] |
2006 | April 1 (Parade) April 1–2 (Festival) | 10th Annual Parade | Parade: 3rd Street, Phoenix Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | 5K Pride Run held on April 2. [4] |
2007 | April 14 (Parade) April 14–15 (Festival) | Over The Top | Parade: 3rd Street, Phoenix Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | 5K Pride Run held on April 15. [4] |
2008 | April 14 (Parade) April 14–15 (Festival) | The Celebration Starts Here! (Parade) More Color, More Voices, More Pride! (Festival) [4] | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2009 | April 18 (Parade) April 18–19 (Festival) | Celebrate Community, Celebrate Family, Celebrate YOU! | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Pride Gala organized for the first time in June, as well as the first OUTdayPHX in October. [4] |
2010 | April 17 (Parade) April 17–18 (Festival) | 1 Community. 3 Decades. 4 Pride | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Parade sponsored by Verizon Wireless. [4] |
2011 | April 16 (Parade) April 16–17 (Festival) | Do Ask. Do Tell. Be Proud | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2012 | April 21 (Parade) April 21–22 (Festival) | Born This Way. Feel It. Live It. Be It. Proud! | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2013 | April 6 (Parade) April 6–7 (Festival) | Equality & Justice For All | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2014 | April 5 (Parade) April 5–6 (Festival) | Be Heard, Stay Strong, Be You | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Celebrity Grand Marshal: Brittney Griner [4] |
2015 | April 12 (Parade) April 11–12 (Festival) | Passionate, Powerful & Proud | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Parade moved to a Sunday, for the first time. [4] |
2016 | April 3 (Parade) April 2–3 (Festival) | Community Strong | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2017 | April 2 (Parade) April 1–2 (Festival) | Stand Up, Stand Proud | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2018 | April 8 (Parade) April 7–8 (Festival) | United We Stand, Equality For All | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2019 | April 7 (Parade) April 6–7 (Festival) | Celebrating Progress: Past, Present, and Future | Festival: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | |
2020 | Cancelled | Celebrating 40 Years of Fortitude | Planned: Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Event originally scheduled for April 4–5. Originally postponed to November 7–8 due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, [8] later rescheduled to 2021, in effect a cancellation. [10] |
2021 | November 6(Parade) November 6–7(Festival) [14] | Celebrating 40 Years of Fortitude | Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix | Originally scheduled for April 10 and 11, with the parade on April 11. [10] Postponed to November due to ongoing concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. [14] |
Activists who disrupted 2017's pride parade have criticized Phoenix Pride as being overly commercialized, in its present form, and accused organizers of straying from its original theme of standing up for the rights of people. [15] Similar criticisms have been leveled against other pride parades around the country. [16]
A pride parade is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events sometimes also serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most occur annually throughout the Western world, while some take place every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a pivotal moment in modern LGBT social movements. The parades seek to create community and honor the history of the movement. In 1970, pride and protest marches were held in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco around the first anniversary of Stonewall. The events became annual and grew internationally. In 2019, New York and the world celebrated the largest international Pride celebration in history: Stonewall 50 - WorldPride NYC 2019, produced by Heritage of Pride commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, with five million attending in Manhattan alone.
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 and their straight allies.
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.
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 NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBTQ community in New York City. The largest pride parade in North America and among the largest pride events in the world, the NYC Pride March attracts tens of thousands of participants and millions of sidewalk spectators each June. The parade route through Lower Manhattan traverses south on Fifth Avenue, through Greenwich Village, passing the Stonewall National Monument, site of the June 1969 riots that launched the modern movement for LGBTQ+ rights.
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.
Indy Pride Festival, formerly Circle City IN Pride, 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.
LGBT pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements. Pride has lent its name to LGBT-themed organizations, institutes, foundations, book titles, periodicals, a cable TV channel, and the Pride Library.
Atlanta Pride, also colloquially called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1971, it is one of the oldest and largest pride festivals in the United States. According to the Atlanta Pride Committee, as of 2017, attendance had continually grown to around 300,000. Originally a pride held in June, Atlanta Pride has been held in October every year since 2008, typically on a weekend closest to National Coming Out Day.
The Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride Festival is an annual series of events which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) life in Dublin, Ireland. It is the largest LGBTQ+ pride festival on the island of Ireland. The festival culminates in a pride parade which is held annually on the last Saturday in June. The event has grown from a one-day event in 1974 to a ten-day festival celebrating LGBT culture in Ireland with an expanded arts, social and cultural content.
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.
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.
Columbus Pride is an LGBTQ festival in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by Stonewall Columbus. The event first took place in 1981, and has grown into the second largest LGBT pride event in the Midwest, behind Chicago. The pride parades typically include marching bands, firetrucks, motorcycles, and floats covered in rainbow flags or balloons.
New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest LGBTQ populations and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."
Twin Cities Pride, also known as Twin Cities GLBT Pride, is a nonprofit organization which runs an annual celebration in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota every June focusing on the LGBT community.
Pride in the Desert is the annual LGBTQ pride event for Tucson, Arizona.
The March of LGBT Pride is an annual pride parade in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The march promotes the equality and rights of LGBT people. It takes place in November in memory of the creation of the first Argentine and Latin American LGBT organization, Nuestro Mundo, in November 1967.
LGBT Pride Month, often shortened to Pride Month, is a month, typically June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969.
While the riots first occurred in June of 1969, and while many communities across the world annually celebrate Pride celebrations or "Pride" in June, the Phoenix community has adjusted the outdoor event to occur in April which is a month more tolerable to most of its residents and visitors due to the heat.
The trans flag was created by Monica Helms, a transgender woman, in 1999. It was first flown at a pride parade in Phoenix, Ariz., the following year.