NYC and Chicago Pride Parade 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Gay pride has been publicly celebrated throughout the world during the month of June since the early 1970's.
Originating in New York City, the Gay Pride Parade is actually just one rainbow-colored event among many that goes on in NYC during Gay Pride Week.
Typically, the NYC Gay Pride Parade is held on the last day of the week in late June. Also held on the last day are the Gay Pride Festival, along with the annual Dance on the Pier following the parade wrapping up Gay Pride Week in a grand fireworks display.
NYC Gay Pride 2009
This year, watch for the festivities to kick off in New York on June 20 with the annual rally at Bryant Park at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue, continuing through to the parade march down Fifth Avenue on June 28, 2009 — beginning at 52nd Street and heading south to Christopher Street in Greenwich Village
Remembering Stonewall
2009 marks the 40th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1969, and a reminder that the Gay Pride Parade was not always such a festive event.
The original purpose of the parade was to commemorate the riots at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay and lesbian bar of the time that became the epicenter for violent protests against the unlawful treatment that gays and lesbians suffered at the hands of the New York City police department.
The Stonewall riots are now considered a major turning point in the Gay Rights movement, and the Gay Pride Parade still goes past the site every year to pay tribute to its significance.
There is also a moment of silence during the Gay Pride Parade, which was adopted in 1986 by organizers as a response to the AIDS crisis, which was at that time a particularly heated issue within the gay and lesbian community.
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