NYC Pride March#Origins

{{See also|Stonewall riots}}

Early on the morning of Saturday, June 28, 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people rioted, following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 53 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan. This event, together with further protests and rioting over the following nights, marked a watershed moment in the modern LGBT rights movement and the impetus for organizing LGBT pride marches on a much larger scale. Veterans of the riot formed a group, the Stonewall Veterans Association, which has continued to drive the advancement of LGBT rights from the rioting at the Stonewall Inn, to the present day.

In the weeks following the riots, 500 people gathered for a "Gay Power" demonstration in Washington Square Park, followed by a march to Sheridan Square within the West Village.{{cite news | last=Black | first=Jonathan | title=In the Wake of Stonewall: Gay Power Hits Back | work=The Village Voice | date=July 31, 1969 | url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/07/27/in-the-wake-of-stonewall-gay-power-hits-back/ | access-date=September 29, 2019}}{{cite web | title=Celebrate at the Stonewall 50 Commemoration | website=WorldPride 2019 Guide | url=https://metrosource.com/worldprideguide/event/stonewall-50-commemoration/ | access-date=June 26, 2019 | archive-date=June 26, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626040724/https://metrosource.com/worldprideguide/event/stonewall-50-commemoration/ | url-status=dead }}

On November 2, 1969, Craig Rodwell, his partner Fred Sargeant, Ellen Broidy, and Linda Rhodes proposed an annual march to be held in New York City by way of a resolution at the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) meeting in Philadelphia.{{cite web | last=Sargeant | first=Fred | title=1970: A First-Person Account of the First Gay Pride March | website=The Village Voice | date=June 22, 2010 | url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/06/22/1970-a-first-person-account-of-the-first-gay-pride-march/ | access-date=September 29, 2019}}

We propose that a demonstration be held annually on the last Saturday in June in New York City to commemorate the 1969 spontaneous demonstrations on Christopher Street and this demonstration be called CHRISTOPHER STREET LIBERATION DAY. No dress or age regulations shall be made for this demonstration.

We also propose that we contact Homophile organizations throughout the country and suggest that they hold parallel demonstrations on that day. We propose a nationwide show of support.Carter, p. 230Marotta, pp. 164–165Teal, pp. 322–323Duberman, pp. 255, 262, 270–280

File:Gay-button-Christopher-Street-liberation-day-1971-June-27.jpg Liberation Day button promoting the second annual NYC Pride March on June 27, 1971]]

All attendees to the ERCHO meeting in Philadelphia voted for the march except for Mattachine Society of New York, which abstained. Members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) attended the meeting and were seated as guests of Rodwell's group, Homophile Youth Movement in Neighborhoods (HYMN).Duberman, p. 227

Meetings to organize the march began in early January at Rodwell's apartment in 350 Bleecker Street.[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/25/nyregion/for-gays-party-search-purpose-30-parade-has-gone-mainstream-movement-s-goals.html/ Nagourney, Adam. "For Gays, a Party In Search of a Purpose; At 30, Parade Has Gone Mainstream As Movement's Goals Have Drifte." New York Times. June 25, 2000.] retrieved January 3, 2011. At first there was difficulty getting some of the major New York City organizations like Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) to send representatives. Craig Rodwell and his partner Fred Sargeant, Ellen Broidy, Michael Brown, Marty Nixon, and Foster Gunnison Jr. of Mattachine made up the core group of the CSLD Umbrella Committee (CSLDUC). For initial funding, Gunnison served as treasurer and sought donations from the national homophile organizations and sponsors, while Sargeant solicited donations via the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop customer mailing list and Nixon worked to gain financial support from GLF in his position as treasurer for that organization.Carter, p. 247Teal, p. 323 Other mainstays of the organizing committee were Judy Miller, Jack Waluska, Steve Gerrie and Brenda Howard of GLF.Duberman, p. 271 Believing that more people would turn out for the march on a Sunday, and so as to mark the date of the start of the Stonewall uprising, the committee scheduled the date for the first march for Sunday, June 28, 1970.Duberman, p. 272 With Dick Leitsch's replacement as president of Mattachine NY by Michael Kotis in April 1970, opposition to the march by Mattachine ended.Duberman, p. 314 n93

{{Quote box |width=30em | bgcolor=#FBCCE7 |align=right |qalign=left |quote=There was little open animosity, and some bystanders applauded when a tall, pretty girl carrying a sign "I am a Lesbian" walked by. – The New York Times coverage of Gay Liberation Day, 1970}}

Christopher Street Liberation Day on June 28, 1970, marked the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots with a march from Sheridan Square, covering the 51 blocks to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. The march took less than half the scheduled time due to excitement, but also due to wariness about walking through the city with gay banners and signs. Although the parade permit was delivered only two hours before the start of the march, participants encountered little resistance from onlookers.Clendinen, pp. 62–64. The New York Times reported (on the front page) that the march extended for about 15 city blocks.Fosburgh, Lacey (June 29, 1970). [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/06/29/archives/thousands-of-homosexuals-hold-a-protest-rally-in-central-park.html "Thousands of Homosexuals Hold A Protest Rally in Central Park"], The New York Times, p. 1. Reporting by The Village Voice was positive, describing "the out-front resistance that grew out of the police raid on the Stonewall Inn one year ago".LaFrank, p. 20. There was also an assembly on Christopher Street.

{{Main|Heritage of Pride}}

The first March in 1970 was organized by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee.{{cite web|url=http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/christopher.html |title=Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day: 1970|last=Stryker|first=Susan|publisher=PlanetOut|access-date=June 28, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080331061402/http://www.planetout.com/news/history/archive/christopher.html |archive-date = March 31, 2008}} Since 1984, the parade and related LGBT pride events in New York City have been produced and organized by Heritage of Pride (HOP), a volunteer spearheaded, non-partisan, tax-exempt, non-profit organization.{{cite web |url=http://www.nycpride.org/about.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324210723/http://www.nycpride.org/about.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 24, 2008 |title=About Heritage Of Pride |publisher=Nyc Pride |access-date=December 3, 2013 }} HOP welcomes participation regardless of age, creed, gender, gender identification, HIV status, national origin, physical, mental or developmental ability, race, or religion. HOP does not use qualifiers for participation.

In 2021, NYC Pride organizers announced that uniformed law enforcement would be banned from marching in the parade until 2025, when the ban will be reexamined by committees and the executive board of NYC Pride.{{cite web|url=https://www.nycpride.org/news-press-media/nyc-pride-announces-new-policies-to-address-police-presence|title=NYC Pride announces new policies to address police presence|date= May 15, 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-health-coronavirus-pandemic-6fa351ba72230b59bf76ec8d51024e40|title = NYC Pride ban on uniformed police reflects a deeper tension| work=Associated Press News |date = June 24, 2021}}

Image:Pride Crosswalk at Christopher Street and Stonewall National Monument.jpg

For many years, the march was only available locally to Time Warner Cable customers, via its NY1 news channel. In 2017 WABC-TV broadcast the NYC LGBT Pride March live for the first time regionally, and made the stream available to all parts of the globe where such content is accessible.{{Cite news|url=http://abc7ny.com/travel/nyc-pride-march-makes-its-way-through-streets-of-manhattan/2144582/|title=NYC Pride March makes its way through streets of Manhattan|date=June 25, 2017|work=ABC7 New York|access-date=April 29, 2018|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/nyc-pride-march-be-broadcast-tv-network-first-time-n763796|title=New York City Pride March to be broadcast by TV network for first time|publisher=NBC News|access-date=April 29, 2018|language=en-US}} WABC-TV continues to broadcast the first three hours of each years march (which has had an actual run time over nine hours in 2017 and 2018). Both the 2017 and 2018 broadcasts were Emmy nominated programs. In 2022, the WABC-TV broadcast was also available via streaming from ABC News Live and Hulu.

{{See also||Against Equality|Gay Shame}}

Over the course of five decades, various groups have accused the NYC Pride March of losing its political, activist roots and becoming a venue for corporate pinkwashing, rainbow capitalism, and assimilation of queer identities.{{cite web |last1=Gaffney |first1=Emma |title=Reclaiming the Revolutionary Spirit of Stonewall at the Queer Liberation March |url=https://indypendent.org/2019/07/reclaiming-the-revolutionary-spirit-of-stonewall-at-the-queer-liberation-march/ |website=indypendent.org |access-date=July 11, 2019}} Such critiques have given rise to various independent events conducted without permits or police. Since 1993 the NYC Dyke March has been held annually on the Saturday prior.{{cite web | title=Herstory | website=NYC Dyke March | url=https://www.nycdykemarch.com/herstory | access-date=May 18, 2019 | archive-date=May 28, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528055007/https://www.nycdykemarch.com/herstory/ | url-status=dead }} Since 1994 the New York City Drag March has been held annually on the Friday prior; it began as a protest against the ban on leather and drag during the 25th anniversary of Stonewall.{{cite web | title=Hundreds of Drag Queens Fill the NYC Streets Every Year for this Drag March | website=HuffPost | date=June 25, 2018 | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nyc-drag-march_n_5b2fb345e4b0040e274410a0 | access-date=May 18, 2019}}{{cite web | last=Maurer | first=Daniel | title=This Year's 'Magical, Strengthening' Drag March | website=Bedford + Bowery | date=June 25, 2018 | url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2018/06/watch-video-of-this-years-magical-strengthening-drag-march/ | access-date=May 18, 2019}} Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in 2019, the Reclaim Pride Coalition organized the first Queer Liberation March, held on Sunday morning, hours before the NYC Pride parade.{{cite web | title=Two marches set to highlight New York City's Pride events | website=Washington Blade | date=May 15, 2019 | url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2019/05/15/two-marches-set-to-highlight-new-york-citys-pride-events/ | access-date=May 18, 2019}}{{cite web | title='Queer Liberation March' sets stage for dueling NYC gay pride events | publisher=NBC News | date=May 15, 2019 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/queer-liberation-march-sets-stage-dueling-nyc-gay-pride-events-n1006006 | access-date=May 18, 2019}}

{{see also|List of largest LGBT events}}

The first march, in 1970, was front-page news in The New York Times reporting the march extended for about fifteen city blocks. The march had thousands of participants with organizers "who said variously 3,000 and 5,000 and even 20,000." The variance could be due, in part, that although the march started with over a dozen homosexual and feminist contingents, parade spectators were encouraged to join the procession. Currently, Heritage of Pride requires preregistration of marchers, and sets up barricades along the entire route discouraging the practice.{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/1651608/nyc-pride-rivaled-by-the-anti-corporate-reclaim-pride-march/|title=There is a radical new alternative to the NYC Pride march that rejects corporate influence|last=Merelli|first=Annalisa|date=June 27, 2019|website=Quartz|language=en|access-date=July 11, 2019}}

Although estimating crowd size is an imprecise science, the NYC March is consistently considered the largest Pride parade in North America, with 2.1 million people in 2015, and 2.5 million in 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theactivetimes.com/travel/worlds-biggest-pride-parades|title=The World's Biggest Pride Parades|date=June 4, 2018|website=The Active Times|language=en|access-date=July 9, 2019}} In 2018, attendance was estimated around two million.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/nyc-pride-march-tries-new-route-to-prepare-for-next-years-parade-1529868584|title=NYC Pride March Tries New Route to Prepare for Next Year's Event|last=Passy|first=Charles|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=June 24, 2018|language=en-US|access-date=July 9, 2019}} In 2024, the estimated crowd size was 2.5 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/14-photos-from-nycs-2024-pride-march-that-absolutely-slay-070124|title=14 photos from NYC's 2024 Pride March that absolutely slay|author=

Rossilynne Skena Culgan|work=Time Out|date=July 1, 2024|access-date=July 10, 2024}} In 2019, as part of Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC, an estimated 5 million people took part over the final weekend of the celebrations,{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/million-people-crowed-nyc-worldpride-mayor/story?id=64090338|title=Millions more attended WorldPride than expected|last1=Allen|first1=Karma|last2=Katersky|first2=Aaron|date=July 2, 2019|website=ABC News|language=en|access-date=July 9, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gay-pride-idUSKCN1TV0T2|title=Millions celebrate LGBTQ pride in New York amid global fight for equality: organizers|last1=Caspani|first1=Maria|work=Reuters|access-date=July 8, 2019|last2=Lavietes|first2=Matthew}} with an estimated 4 million in attendance at the parade.{{Cite web|url=https://amp.gothamist.com/amp/articles/create?article_id=5d1a0666fa7735000188ec04|title=Photos: Massive Turnout For Euphoric NYC Pride March: Gothamist|last=Lynch|first=Scott|website=Gothamist|access-date=July 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703202525/https://amp.gothamist.com/amp/articles/create?article_id=5d1a0666fa7735000188ec04|archive-date=July 3, 2019|url-status=dead}} The 12-hour parade included 150,000 pre-registered participants among 695 groups.{{Cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/cost-corporatization-fierte-montreal-preps-bid-for-2023-worldpride|title=Cost, corporatization: Fierté Montréal preps bid for 2023 WorldPride|last=Burnett|first=Richard|date=July 9, 2019|website=Montreal Gazette|language=en|access-date=July 10, 2019}} It was the largest parade of any kind in the city's history and four times as large as the annual Times Square Ball on New Year's Eve.{{Cite web|url=https://pix11.com/2019/06/28/how-the-nypd-will-keep-pride-the-largest-nyc-public-event-ever-safe/|title=How the NYPD will keep Pride, the largest NYC public event ever, safe|last=Ford|first=James|date=June 28, 2019|website=WPIX 11 New York|access-date=July 11, 2019}}

• Karine Jean-Pierre; Marti Gould Cummings

• Miss Major; Michelle Visage; Raquel Willis; and DaShawn Usher of GLAAD
• Youth Activist grand marshals: singer-songwriter Baddie Brooks, Hetrick-Martin Institute advocate Robin Drake, and content creator Eshe Ukweli{{cite web | last=White | first=Erin | title=NYC Pride 2024 announces grand marshals including Baddie Brooks, Michelle Visage, Miss Major | website=audacy.com | date=May 4, 2024 | url=https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nyc-pride-2024-grand-marshals-miss-major-michelle-visage | access-date=June 30, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Anderson | first=Renee | title=NYC Pride March 2024 kicks off today. Map shows the route and where it will end. | website=CBS New York | date=June 29, 2024 | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nyc-pride-mach-2024/ | access-date=June 30, 2024}}

• Billy Porter; Yasmin Benoit, the first openly asexual Grand Marshal;{{Cite web |last=Monaghan |first=Ray |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Meet the First-Ever Asexual Grand Marshal at NYC Pride |url=https://gayety.co/meet-first-ever-asexual-grand-marshal-nyc-pride |access-date=May 28, 2023 |website=Gayety |language=en-US}} artist and educator AC Dumlao; Hope Giselle;{{cite news |title='Live out loud': US Black queer activists fight against 'tactics of erasure' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/15/black-queer-activists-fight-tactics-of-erasure |access-date=October 15, 2023 |work=The Guardian |agency=Associated Press |date=October 15, 2023}} and Randy Wicker{{Cite web |date=May 18, 2023 |title=Grand Marshals announced for 2023 NYC Pride March |url=https://abc7ny.com/nyc-pride-march-grand-marshal/13265726/ |access-date=May 28, 2023 |website=ABC7 New York |language=en}}

File:NYC Pride March 2022 -i---i- (52178251345).jpg

• Ts Madison; Chase Strangio; Punkie Johnson; Schuyler Bailar; and Dominique Morgan of The Okra Project{{Cite web |date=May 10, 2022 |title=NYC Pride announces grand marshals for 2022 LGBTQ march |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/nbc-out-proud/nyc-pride-announces-grand-marshals-2022-lgbtq-march-rcna27950 |access-date=May 28, 2023 |publisher=NBC News |language=en}}

The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City resulted in cancelation of the 2020 and 2021 events.

File:NYC Pride 2019 05.jpg, the world's largest LGBT event in history.]]

{{Main|Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019}}

• Mj Rodriguez, Indya Moore, and Dominique Jackson from the cast of Pose; Phyll Opoku-Gyimah; Monica Helms, creator of the 1999 transgender pride flag; The Trevor Project; and the Gay Liberation Front{{Cite web|url=https://www.out.com/news/2019/4/11/cast-pose-named-grand-marshals-nyc-pride-march|title=The Cast of 'Pose' Named Grand Marshals of NYC Pride March|date=April 11, 2019|website=out.com|language=en|access-date=April 14, 2019}}

• Billie Jean King; Lambda Legal; Tyler Ford; and Kenita Placide{{cite web | last=Zeigler | first=Cyd | title=Billie Jean King named New York City Pride Grand Marshal | website=Outsports | date=March 30, 2018 | url=https://www.outsports.com/2018/3/30/17178422/billie-jean-new-york-city-pride-grand-marshal | access-date=April 26, 2019}}

• American Civil Liberties Union; Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender FDNY firefighter; Krishna Stone of Gay Men's Health Crisis; Geng Le, Chinese LGBT rights leader and founder of Blued{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/nyc-pride-march-year-s-grand-marshals-announced-n743086|title=NYC Pride March: This year's Grand Marshals announced|publisher=NBC News|access-date=April 6, 2017|language=en}}

• Jazz Jennings; Cecilia Chung;{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycpride.org/events/the-march/|title=The March – NYC Pride|language=en-US|access-date=June 27, 2016|archive-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701234749/https://www.nycpride.org/events/the-march/|url-status=dead}} and Subhi Nahas, refugee and cofounder of the first LGBT magazine in Syria

Image:Pride Parade New York June 28, 2015 8.jpg

• Ian McKellen; Derek Jacobi; Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera; and J. Christopher Neal, the first openly bisexual Grand Marshal{{cite web|url=https://www.hrc.org/blog/from-brenda-howard-to-j.-christopher-neal-bisexual-leaders-and-pride |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222032549/http://www.hrc.org/blog/from-brenda-howard-to-j.-christopher-neal-bisexual-leaders-and-pride |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2015 |title=From Brenda Howard to J. Christopher Neal: Bisexual Leaders and Pride |publisher=Human Rights Campaign |date=June 30, 2015 |access-date=May 18, 2019}}

• Laverne Cox; Jonathan Groff; and Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

• Edith Windsor, plaintiff in United States v. Windsor, which struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act;{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/29/opinion/windsor-supreme-court-fight/index.html |title=Opinion: My late wife is thanking you, too |publisher=CNN |access-date=December 3, 2013}} Earl Fowlkes; and Harry Belafonte

• Cyndi Lauper; Chris Salgardo of Kiehl's; Connie Kopelov & Phyllis Siegel, New York City's first legally married same-sex couple{{cite news|title=Heritage of Pride announces Grand Marshals for the 43rd annual LGBT Pride March|url=http://www.nycpride.org/pdf/2012GrandMarshalPressRelease.pdf|date=March 14, 2012|access-date=March 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117114544/http://www.nycpride.org/pdf/2012GrandMarshalPressRelease.pdf|archive-date=January 17, 2016|url-status=dead}}

Image:New York Gay Pride 2011.jpg

• Dan Savage and Terry Miller, It Gets Better Project; Rev. Pat Bumgardner, Metropolitan Community Church of New York; and the Imperial Court of New York{{cite news|title=Judy Shepard to Make final official Pride Appearance & Serve as Grand Marshal of the 41st Annual NYC LGBT Pride March|url=http://www.nycpride.org/pdf/2011_GM%20Press%20Release_FINAL.pdf|date=April 2011|access-date=October 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109065050/http://www.nycpride.org/pdf/2011_GM%20Press%20Release_FINAL.pdf|archive-date=November 9, 2011|url-status=dead}}

• Constance McMillen; Judy Shepard; and Lt. Dan Choi{{cite news|last=Bolcer |first=Julie |url=http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/04/13/McMillen_Named_NYC_Gay_Pride_Grand_Marshal/ |title=McMillen Named NYC Gay Pride Grand Marshal |publisher=Advocate.com |date=April 13, 2010 |access-date=December 3, 2013}}

• Cleve Jones; Anne Kronenberg; and Dustin Lance Black

• Gilbert Baker; Candice Cayne; New York Governor David A. Paterson; New York Senator Charles Schumer;{{cite web|url=http://pressphotointernational.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/senator-charles-schumer-marches-in-ny-gay-pride-parade/ |title=Senator Charles Schumer Marches in NY Gay Pride Parade | PressPhoto International |publisher=Pressphotointernational.wordpress.com |date=June 29, 2008 |access-date=December 3, 2013}} and NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/nyregion/30paterson.html|title=Celebrating Gay Pride and Its Albany Friend|first=Jeremy W.|last=Peters|work=The New York Times |date=June 30, 2008}}

{{Portal|LGBTQ|World|New York (state)|New York City|United States}}

• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of largest LGBT events
• List of LGBT awareness days
• List of LGBT events
• List of LGBT people from New York City
• Queens Liberation Front
• Queens Pride Parade
• St. Pat's for All
• Timeline of LGBT history in New York City

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|LGBT Pride in New York City}}

• [http://www.nycpride.org/ NYC Pride (Heritage of Pride, Inc.)]
• [https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs01991430/ Gay and Proud], 1970 documentary film by Lilli Vincenz of the first march in New York City

{{Pride parades}}

{{LGBT in New York}}

Category:1970 establishments in New York City

Category:1970 in LGBTQ history

Category:Fifth Avenue

Category:LGBTQ culture in New York City

Gay Pride Parade

Category:Pride parades in New York (state)

Category:Recurring events established in 1970