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Pride Flag

PRIDE FACT 7
The first Pride Parade marches around the country

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On Saturday, June 27, 1970, Chicago Gay Liberation organized a march from Washington Square Park ("Bughouse Square") to the Water Tower at the intersection of Michigan and Chicago avenues, which was the route originally planned, and then many of the participants spontaneously marched on to the Civic Center (now Richard J. Daley) Plaza. The date was chosen because the Stonewall events began on the last Saturday of June and because organizers wanted to reach the maximum number of Michigan Avenue shoppers. Subsequent Chicago parades have been held on the last Sunday of June, coinciding with the date of many similar parades elsewhere.

The West Coast of the United States saw a march in San Francisco on June 27, 1970, and 'Gay-in' on June 28, 1970, and a march in Los Angeles on June 28, 1970.

On Sunday, June 28, 1970, at around noon, in New York City, gay activist groups held their own pride parade, known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day, to recall the events of Stonewall one year earlier.

 

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. 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.

Source: First Pride Parade: History & Evolution Of LGBTQ March (refinery29.com)

Source: The First Pride Marches, in Photos | History | Smithsonian Magazine

Source: Pride parade - Wikipedia

Source: The Rise and Fall—and Hopeful Return—of Boston's Pride Parade (bostonmagazine.com)

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