This week will be Pride in Philadelphia and I urge you to be a part of it. While there has been controversy over this year’s events and how they came about, the truth is Pride is not what it once was, and it’s not even close. So if you’re like me and my sisters and brothers who organized, marshaled, or simply marched in that first Pride in 1970 in New York, you’ll gather, march or party for your personal pride, not for anyone else’s views.
We are far from the unity that was that first Pride, but that is not the fault of any one person or group. It is a result of the current political atmosphere the nation is going through which has us questioning things that were previously generalized and systematic. The current climate has led to questioning almost all authority figures, even those who run Pride celebrations. It’s led to questioning something that we, the founders of Pride, thought was a simple proposition: celebrating and demonstrating our Pride in fighting back, and reveling in the pride we felt from creating a community where there was none before.
Pride has taken many forms around the world over the years, but in recent years at least in the U.S., and also in places like London, it took on a celebratory party feel without that connection to the original roots of that 1970 march (it wasn’t a parade back then). But those trying to recreate that march often don’t recall the second part of that day in 1970. After the march, there was a party. It was called a Gay-in, and it was held in Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park. So historically, there was a protest march and a party at that first Pride, not just the march.
Putting this all together, our simple shout as we marched that year was very appropriate to this year’s events…. OUT, LOUD and PROUD.
This year there will be a political march and then a party in the gayborhood. Sounds familiar to me.
There are several of us from that first Pride still around, and when we march or celebrate, we know the history of that Pride. For each of you I wish the same, joy of being with your community. Let me share a little trick with you to help you enjoy it.
Over the years I’ve been to literally hundreds of prides. Some I’m a guest, others a speaker, and still others I just march with friends. Each time, I close my eyes for a moment and try to recall the feeling I felt at that first pride in 1970. The first memory of that day was getting there early and hoping that the community would actually come out and join us, since nothing on that scale had ever been attempted in our community before. At about noon (if memory serves me well) it occurred to me that there were more LGBT people in this one spot than anyone had ever seen in our community in one place before, and it was the middle of a bright Sunday afternoon. The moment we stepped off of Seventh and Christopher we heard shouts, whistles and applause. Next for me was when we marched out of Christopher Street and started to walk up 6th Avenue. We were walking out of our ghetto, and there were thousands of us. Then I recall at about 17th or 18th Street, I climbed a pole to look behind me. What I saw were people still coming out of Christopher Street. We were already 8 to 10 blocks long. The thrill and chills that ran down my back will never be replicated, no matter how long I live. That’s the moment I remember, when I took the time to truly see where I was and where the community was.
If this is your first Pride, take a moment to stop, look around and feel the joy of being with your community. It’s an amazing community we’ve built in these last 53 years, and that should give everyone Pride.
So I’ll be there on Sunday, and hope to see you and share some Pride and joy. We can demonstrate and at the same time celebrate how far we have come in 53 years, and we can do that together.