Boston Pride (event)
{{About|the annual LGBT event|the hockey team|Boston Pride}}
{{Short description|Parade in Boston}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| name = Boston Pride
| image = Boston Pride 2017 (41936659674).jpg
| caption = A photo of Elizabeth Warren at Boston Pride in 2017 outside the Boston Public Library.
| status = Active
| genre = Pride parade
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| frequency = Annually
| location = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| first = {{start date|1970|06}}
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Boston Pride is an annual LGBTQ pride event held in Boston, Massachusetts. As of 2019 it was the 22nd largest pride event in the world and alleged by organizers to be the third-largest pride parade in the United States.{{Cite news |date=June 7, 2019 |title=Boston's 2019 pride parade expected to be biggest ever |work=WCVB |url=https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-s-2019-pride-parade-expected-to-be-biggest-ever/27828541 |access-date=January 30, 2023}}{{Cite web |date=June 8, 2019 |title=Boston Celebrates Pride With Record-Breaking Crowds |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-lgbtq-pride-parade-big-crowds/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}
History
= 1970s =
Boston Pride began in June 1970, when a small group of about 50 gay and lesbian activists marched from Cambridge Common to Boston Common, where they held a rally commemorating the Stonewall riots.{{Cite news |last=Macias |first=Anna |date=June 15, 1986 |title=MARCHERS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY AT GAY PRIDE PARADE |pages=30 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/294347073 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|294347073}} }}{{Cite web |last=Waters |first=Michael |date=June 7, 2019 |title=The First Pride Marches, in Photos |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/first-pride-marches-photos-1-180972379/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Finding Aid: Boston Pride Collection |url=https://www.historyproject.org/sites/default/files/2018-01/boston-pride-collection.pdf |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=www.historyproject.org}} On June 26, 1971, about 300 people attended the first official Boston Pride March, which stopped at four locations in the city: Jacque's (a drag bar), the Boston police headquarters, the Massachusetts State House, and St. Paul's Cathedral.{{Cite web |last=Toussaint |first=Kristin |date=June 11, 2015 |title='Wicked Proud': How Boston has been celebrating LGBT pride for 45 years |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2015/06/11/wicked-proud-how-boston-has-been-celebrating-lgbt-pride-for-45-years/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.boston.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=40 years of gay pride in Boston |url=http://archive.boston.com/lifestyle/gallery/gaypride?pg=2 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Boston.com}}{{Cite web |last=Kavarana |first=Zarah |date=June 5, 2016 |title=Boston Pride Week, By the Numbers |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2016/06/05/boston-pride-week-by-the-numbers/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Bruce |first=Katherine McFarland |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956508790 |title=Pride parades : how a parade changed the world |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-4798-1778-8 |location=New York |pages=71, 85 |language=en |oclc=956508790}}{{Cite news |last=Bienick |first=David |date=June 8, 2019 |title=Boston Pride Parade commemorates birth of gay rights movement |work=WCVB |url=https://www.wcvb.com/article/boston-pride-parade-commemorates-birth-of-gay-rights-movement-50-years-ago/27849873 |access-date=January 30, 2023}} At each location marchers read off their demands and grievances: misogyny, police harassment, legal discrimination, and religious persecution, respectively. After the march, a rally was held with a "closet-smashing" demonstration. In 1972, the march visited the city jail and returned to the State House.
In 1974 the Lavender Rhino debuted as a float in the parade. Earlier that year, Gay Media Action had put together a series of ads featuring the rhino as part of a campaign to encourage LGBTQ visibility. When they pitched the ads to the MBTA, however, they were told they could not run the ads at the public service price rather than the more expensive standard price.{{Cite web |title=How A Lavender Rhino Became A Symbol Of Gay Resistance In '70s Boston |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/06/03/lavender-rhino-gay-resistance-boston |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.wbur.org |date=June 3, 2019 |language=en}} This led to a protest campaign, which then led to the Lavender Rhino float. Subsequently, the rhino became the parade's mascot.
In 1978 the event was renamed the New England Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade; about 5,000 people attended.
= 1980s =
1981 had an expected 10,000 marchers.{{Cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Joseph M |last2=Devall |first2=Cheryl |date=June 20, 1981 |title=COURT CLEARS GAYS' ROUTE |pages=21 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/294074866 |access-date=January 30, 2023 |id={{ProQuest|294074866}} |via=ProQuest}} By 1984 attendance increased to 15,000, to 20,000 in 1985, and to 25,000 in 1986.{{Cite news |last=Rofes |first=Eric |date=June 18, 1984 |title=Gay pride—a week to remember |pages=9 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1736123307 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|1736123307}} }}{{Cite news |last=Knott |first=Janet |date=June 16, 1985 |title=GAY PRIDE PARADE |pages=25 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1821211020 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|1821211020}} }}
In 1987 Boston Pride was able to raise a Lavender Rhino flag at City Hall.{{Cite news |last=Bickelhaupt |first=Susan |date=June 14, 1987 |title=30,000 gays rally to show pride, fight prejudice |pages=1 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2074257891 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|2074257891}} }} The 1988 parade marked the first time the event was organized formally by a pride committee, who required pre-registration for marchers.
= 1990s =
By 1993 Boston Pride was reporting an attendance of 100,000 people.{{Cite news |last=Atkinson |first=Lisa |date=June 13, 1993 |title=Gays, lesbians parade their pride by the tens of thousands in Boston |pages=44 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/294754755 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|294754755}} }} The growing attendance led to some corporate groups marching in the parade by 1994.{{Cite news |last=McFarling |first=Usha Lee |date=June 12, 1994 |title=Wearing the corporate label Businesses join Pride Parade |pages=33 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/290692351 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|290692351}} }}
In 1995 the Boston Dyke March was founded as an alternative to Boston Pride. Organizers alleged that Boston Pride had become too apolitical.
= 2000s =
Boston Pride in 2004 was particularly celebratory, as attendees celebrated the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, which had been announced in November 2003, with marriage licenses being given out starting in May 2004.{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Jenna |date=June 13, 2004 |title=GAY PRIDE PARADE PAYS TRIBUTE TO MARRIAGE PRIDE PARADE CELEBRATES GAY MARRIAGE |pages=1 |work=Boston Globe |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/404909649 |access-date=January 30, 2023|id={{ProQuest|404909649}} }}
= 2010s =
An estimated 25,000 people marched in the parade in 2014.{{Cite web |date=June 14, 2014 |title=Thousands March In 2014 Boston Pride Parade |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/thousands-march-in-2014-boston-pride-parade/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=CBS Boston |language=en-US}}
In 2015 a group of protesters interrupted the parade to demand that organizers pay attention to the issues faced by transgender people and LGBTQ people of color.{{Cite web |title=Activists Disrupt Boston Pride, Demand More Racial, Trans Inclusivity |url=https://www.advocate.com/pride/2015/06/14/activists-disrupt-boston-pride-demand-more-racial-trans-inclusivity |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}
In 2017 the parade's theme was "Stronger Together" in remembrance of the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting; 29 survivors of the attack led the parade.{{Cite web |date=June 10, 2017 |title=Boston Pride Day Event: A Day For Pride And To Remember |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-pride-day-event/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=CBS Boston |language=en-US}}
2019 had an expected turnout of 50,000 marchers and 750,000 parade and festival attendees.
= 2020s =
Boston Pride was not held in-person in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Hook |first=Douglas |date=June 12, 2020 |title=Boston Pride 50th anniversary: Festival goes virtual, parade postponed to 2021 |url=https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/06/boston-pride-50th-anniversary-festival-goes-virtual-parade-postponed-to-2021.html |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=masslive |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2021 |title=Boston 2021 Pride Parade, Festival Won't Be Held In June |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-pride-2021-parade-festival-coronavirus-fall/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} In 2021, the organization known as Boston Pride dissolved after multiple years of internal disagreements.{{Cite web |last=Wintersmith |first=Saraya |date=April 13, 2022 |title=Iconic Boston Pride parade will not return this summer |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2022/04/13/iconic-boston-pride-parade-will-not-return-this-summer |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=WGBH |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Doan-Nguyen |first=Yan H |date=June 28, 2022 |title='The End of One Era': Marching Toward a New Boston Pride {{!}} Magazine {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/6/28/boston-pride-dissolved/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}{{Cite web |last=Gray |first=Arielle |date=July 1, 2020 |title=LGBTQ+ Activists Clash With Boston Pride, Demand Board Resignation |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/07/01/lgbtq-activists-clash-with-boston-pride-demand-board-resignation |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kearnan |first=Scott |date=June 12, 2020 |title=Boston Pride's Response to the Black Lives Matter Protests Is a Shame |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2020/06/12/boston-pride-response-to-black-lives-matter/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Boston Magazine |language=en-US}} In 2022, a variety of pride events were held in Boston, although none were on the scale of Boston Pride.{{Cite web |last=Beland |first=Amanda |date=June 12, 2022 |title=Boston LGBTQ+ community steps up to lead reimagined Pride Month celebrations |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/06/12/boston-lgbtq-pride-month |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}}
In September 2022, a new organizing committee, Boston Pride for the People, was established.{{Cite web |last=LeBlanc |first=Steve |date=2023-06-10 |title=LGBTQ+ Pride parade returns to Boston after rift over inclusivity |url=https://apnews.com/article/boston-pride-parade-drag-social-justice-5f565b67767a275a031c616c2630fc7a |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=AP News |language=en}}
The Boston Pride parade returned under the new committee in June 2023.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-10 |title=Boston Pride parade returns for first time since 2019 - CBS Boston |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/boston-pride-parade-2023/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} Around 10,000 marchers registered to attend.
In 2024, amid the ongoing Gaza war, queer pro-Palestinian advocates blocked the parade until police arrested the counterprotesters.{{Cite web |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |date=2024-07-08 |title=This year's Pride parades met a new opponent: pro-Palestinian LGBTQ+ protestors |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2024/07/this-years-pride-parades-met-a-new-opponent-pro-palestinian-lgbtq-protestors/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=LGBTQ Nation |language=en}}
A book, The Rise and Fall of Boston Pride: The Rise of a Movement, The Fall of an Organization by Daniel Joseph Gonzalez (Shodan Press) was released on June 1, 2025. This is the only book on the history of Boston Pride from 1970-2024.{{Cite web [last=Kearnan |first=Scott |date=May/June 2025 title=Rainbow Story: New Book Chronicles the Rise and Fall...and Rise of Pride in Boston |url=https://www.bostonpridebook.com/blog/the-rise-and-fall-of-boston-pride-featured-in-may-june-2025-boston-spirit |Magazine: Boston Spirit Magazine |language=en}}