Gay Pride Week (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender PRIDE March; Moment of Silence)
"Gay Pride Week," held every June, is one of New York's most important festivals because it literally grew from New York itself. It commemorates the famous Stonewall Inn riots of June 28, 1969.
It's officially called (Heritage of) Pride Week, and there's a march (not a parade).
The Wikipedia entry for "Gay Pride Week" mentions Toronto?
http://www.hopinc.org/events/march.cfm
The 36th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender PRIDE March
5th Avenue and 52nd Street to Christopher and Greenwich Streets
Sunday, June 26th, 2005, 12pm-end
Moment of Silence: 2pm
...
http://www.hopinc.org/about/faq.cfm
Is the March a parade or march?
Heritage of Pride, Inc., like its predecessor the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee, has always called this event a March. HOP feels that until the day all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people can live their lives without violence, harassment, and discrimination, they must continue to march openly and proudly. (HOP does encourage a festive atmosphere by such visual elements as rainbow balloon arches, a lavender stripe painted down Fifth Avenue, and colorful floats).
(...)
What is the significance of the Moment of Silence?
In 1986, Heritage of Pride introduced the Moment of Silence into the March, in response to the AIDS crisis. It is the only time that all marchers are asked to do one thing at the same time. March participants were asked to stop, stand, and remember those lost to AIDS. The Moment of Silence is staggering in its impact. Over 500,000 marchers and spectators stop their cheering, yelling, dancing, singing, and music to join in a silence that runs the 3 miles of the Fifth Avenue march route -- from 52nd street in Midtown, to Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. How individuals respond to the Moment of Silence -- whether a sob, scream, or cheer -- is left up to each person. Heritage of Pride feels that this most personal of moments should be respected by all organizations and individuals. HOP added the Ribbons of Remembrance in 1990. At 2 p.m. while the Moment of Silence envelops the entire March route, participants hold aloft ribbons with the names of lost loved ones written on them. Over the past 6 years, the dollar per ribbon donations have raised over $50,000 to support client services of various local AIDS service organizations.
What is the significance of the Rainbow Flag and the Pink Triangle?
The Rainbow Flag is an international symbol of Gay and Lesbian Pride. The flag was conceived by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco resident, who made the first one by hand. He then had copies of the flag made, which were first flown at San Francisco's Pride events in 1978. The flag (with its 6 horizontal stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) represents the diversity, yet unity, of the gay and lesbian community. Heritage of Pride introduced rainbow flags to the East coast in 1986.
The inverted pink triangle was used to mark male homosexuals in the concentration camps of Hitler's Third Reich; while lesbians, female dissidents, and prostitutes were forced to wear black triangles. Both the pink and black triangles have now been adopted by many in the gay community as symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride and determination.
Wikipedia: Gay Pride Week
Gay Pride Week or Pride Week is an event held in Toronto, Ontario during the last week of June each year. It is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area. It is one of the largest Gay Pride celebration in the world, together with San Francisco, California and Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo.
Gay Pride Week is organized by Pride Toronto, a non-profit volunteer organization.
Main events of Pride Week include the Dyke March and the Pride parade, the latter having some 400,000 in attendance in 2004.
Toronto's Pride Week evolved out of the mass protests that followed the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids, and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005.
20 May 1970, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), pg. 10C, col. 4:
GAY PRIDE: The Gay Activists Alliance, a militant civil rights organization of about 200 New York City homosexuals, says a riot may be in the offing this summer if police harassment of gay bars continues. The group hopes to attract homosexual organizations from all over the East to participate in Gay Pride week at the end of June, which would culminate in a march to Central Park for a "gay-in." "
28 June 1970, Chicago (IL) Tribune, pg. A3:
Gay Pride week, sponsored by the Chicago Gay Liberation movement, was celebrated yesterday with speeches, dancing, and a march to the Civic center plaza.
29 June 1970, Washington (DC) Post, pg. A20:
Homosexuals
March in N.Y.
NEW YORK, June 29 (AP) - About 3,000 homosexuals marched from Greenwich Village to Central Park today to demand equal rights with heterosexuals.
It was the climax of what its organizers called "Gay Pride Week." The week has featured demonstrations outside state and city offices to demand an end to what they called police harassment of homosexual meeting places and "enticement" by police officers to commit illegal acts.
"Gay" is a word homosexuals use to described themselves.
25 June 1973, New York (NY) Times, pg. 21:
Homosexuals March Down 7th Avenue
By JOHN DARNTON
(...)
The organizers of the march, who saw the large turnout as living fulfillment of the oft-chanted slogan "Out of the closets and into the streets," said that their goal of 20,000 protesters had been achieved. But observers thought they were over-zealous in counting. No disturbances were reported.
The march, the fourth annual Christopher Street Liberation Day parade, coinciding with the last day of "Gay Pride Week," commemorates the night of June 27, 1969, when a group of homosexuals resisted a police raid by rioting outside a bar frequented by homosexuals, the Stonewall Inn, on Christopher Street.
1 July 1974, New York (NY) Times, pg. 33:
A Parade Closes Gay Pride Week
It's officially called (Heritage of) Pride Week, and there's a march (not a parade).
The Wikipedia entry for "Gay Pride Week" mentions Toronto?
http://www.hopinc.org/events/march.cfm
The 36th Annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender PRIDE March
5th Avenue and 52nd Street to Christopher and Greenwich Streets
Sunday, June 26th, 2005, 12pm-end
Moment of Silence: 2pm
...
http://www.hopinc.org/about/faq.cfm
Is the March a parade or march?
Heritage of Pride, Inc., like its predecessor the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee, has always called this event a March. HOP feels that until the day all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people can live their lives without violence, harassment, and discrimination, they must continue to march openly and proudly. (HOP does encourage a festive atmosphere by such visual elements as rainbow balloon arches, a lavender stripe painted down Fifth Avenue, and colorful floats).
(...)
What is the significance of the Moment of Silence?
In 1986, Heritage of Pride introduced the Moment of Silence into the March, in response to the AIDS crisis. It is the only time that all marchers are asked to do one thing at the same time. March participants were asked to stop, stand, and remember those lost to AIDS. The Moment of Silence is staggering in its impact. Over 500,000 marchers and spectators stop their cheering, yelling, dancing, singing, and music to join in a silence that runs the 3 miles of the Fifth Avenue march route -- from 52nd street in Midtown, to Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. How individuals respond to the Moment of Silence -- whether a sob, scream, or cheer -- is left up to each person. Heritage of Pride feels that this most personal of moments should be respected by all organizations and individuals. HOP added the Ribbons of Remembrance in 1990. At 2 p.m. while the Moment of Silence envelops the entire March route, participants hold aloft ribbons with the names of lost loved ones written on them. Over the past 6 years, the dollar per ribbon donations have raised over $50,000 to support client services of various local AIDS service organizations.
What is the significance of the Rainbow Flag and the Pink Triangle?
The Rainbow Flag is an international symbol of Gay and Lesbian Pride. The flag was conceived by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco resident, who made the first one by hand. He then had copies of the flag made, which were first flown at San Francisco's Pride events in 1978. The flag (with its 6 horizontal stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) represents the diversity, yet unity, of the gay and lesbian community. Heritage of Pride introduced rainbow flags to the East coast in 1986.
The inverted pink triangle was used to mark male homosexuals in the concentration camps of Hitler's Third Reich; while lesbians, female dissidents, and prostitutes were forced to wear black triangles. Both the pink and black triangles have now been adopted by many in the gay community as symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride and determination.
Wikipedia: Gay Pride Week
Gay Pride Week or Pride Week is an event held in Toronto, Ontario during the last week of June each year. It is a celebration of the diversity of the LGBT community in the Greater Toronto Area. It is one of the largest Gay Pride celebration in the world, together with San Francisco, California and Parada do Orgulho GLBT de São Paulo.
Gay Pride Week is organized by Pride Toronto, a non-profit volunteer organization.
Main events of Pride Week include the Dyke March and the Pride parade, the latter having some 400,000 in attendance in 2004.
Toronto's Pride Week evolved out of the mass protests that followed the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids, and will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2005.
20 May 1970, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), pg. 10C, col. 4:
GAY PRIDE: The Gay Activists Alliance, a militant civil rights organization of about 200 New York City homosexuals, says a riot may be in the offing this summer if police harassment of gay bars continues. The group hopes to attract homosexual organizations from all over the East to participate in Gay Pride week at the end of June, which would culminate in a march to Central Park for a "gay-in." "
28 June 1970, Chicago (IL) Tribune, pg. A3:
Gay Pride week, sponsored by the Chicago Gay Liberation movement, was celebrated yesterday with speeches, dancing, and a march to the Civic center plaza.
29 June 1970, Washington (DC) Post, pg. A20:
Homosexuals
March in N.Y.
NEW YORK, June 29 (AP) - About 3,000 homosexuals marched from Greenwich Village to Central Park today to demand equal rights with heterosexuals.
It was the climax of what its organizers called "Gay Pride Week." The week has featured demonstrations outside state and city offices to demand an end to what they called police harassment of homosexual meeting places and "enticement" by police officers to commit illegal acts.
"Gay" is a word homosexuals use to described themselves.
25 June 1973, New York (NY) Times, pg. 21:
Homosexuals March Down 7th Avenue
By JOHN DARNTON
(...)
The organizers of the march, who saw the large turnout as living fulfillment of the oft-chanted slogan "Out of the closets and into the streets," said that their goal of 20,000 protesters had been achieved. But observers thought they were over-zealous in counting. No disturbances were reported.
The march, the fourth annual Christopher Street Liberation Day parade, coinciding with the last day of "Gay Pride Week," commemorates the night of June 27, 1969, when a group of homosexuals resisted a police raid by rioting outside a bar frequented by homosexuals, the Stonewall Inn, on Christopher Street.
1 July 1974, New York (NY) Times, pg. 33:
A Parade Closes Gay Pride Week