Houstonians come together with Pride
CORRECTION 7/9/2017: This article has been updated to reflect that it is Houston’s 39th annual Pride Parade and Festival.
More than 700,000 people gathered downtown for Houston’s 39th annual Pride Parade and Festival June 24, breaking the previous record for attendance.
The Houston Pride Parade and Festival is the biggest LGBT pride celebration in the southwestern United States. After 35 years of being held in the Montrose neighborhood, Houston city officials moved the parade and festival downtown in 2015 to accommodate the larger crowds.
The celebration of Pride began more than 40 years ago. On the morning of June 28, 1969, police raided a popular LGBT bar in New York City, the Stonewall Inn. After years of criminalization, harassment and brutalization at the hands of the community and police, the 200 LGBT patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back, throwing bottles and bricks at police. On June 29 and 30, riots continued in New York City’s Greenwich Village where the Stonewall Inn is located.
Exactly one year after the start of the Stonewall riots, LGBT activists organized the Christopher Street Liberation Day demonstration, marking the first ever gay pride parade. In 1971, cities across the country hosted demonstrations and the LGBT rights movement was born.
Talk about #PRIDE! 40 years ago today, #AnitaBryant lit the match that started #Houston‘s #LGBT movement. https://t.co/dnVfFq1mPo pic.twitter.com/L3qtJNKWrg
— The Trouble With Ray (@troublewithray) June 16, 2017
Houston experienced a galvanizing moment in June 1977 when local LGBT activists organized a LGBT rights protest drawing 12,000 people. Organizers expected about 500 people to show up. This marked the beginning of the LGBT rights movement in Houston.
Two years later in June 1979, 5000 people attended the first pride parade in Montrose. Prominent Houston LGBT rights activist Ray Hill and a young Annise Parker were among those who took part in the first pride celebration in Houston.
Now in 2017, the Houston Pride Parade is the second largest event in Houston after the Houston Rodeo. In the last 40 years, the LGBT community in Houston and across the country has come a long way in terms of social acceptance, but still face many forms of discrimination. In Texas there are no laws preventing employers from firing employees because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Houston’s former mayor Annise Parker, one of the first openly gay mayors of a major US city, participated in the parade again this year. Mayor Sylvester Turner also rode in the parade to show his support for the LGBT community.
Both Turner and Parker were audience favorites, eliciting loud cheers from the crowd as they rode past.
Moments before Pride Parade, hanging with former boss Mayor Annise Parker and boss Mayor Sylvester Turner. Epic!!! pic.twitter.com/apZxlVnwtj
— William-Paul Thomas (@wmpaulthomas) June 25, 2017
Other local politicians, such a Sheila Jackson Lee, took part in the parade as well.
Local churches and religious organizations took part in the parade by offering support and acceptance for LGBT people.
Major companies, such as Starbucks and its employees, marched in the parade to show its support for LGBT rights.
@Starbucks Pride Alliance Network- Team Houston #extrashotofpride @YorkTraci @natekovach @starbucksprtnrs pic.twitter.com/L4647TCjJb
— ANGELa (@lalalandangela) June 26, 2016
While most of the people at the festival and parade were there to celebrate and promote inclusion and LGBT rights, a small group of people showed up to protest against the event.
Parade participants handed out beads, candy, coozies, shirts and other items, ensuring the crowds didn’t walk away empty-handed.
After the parade, street musicians took advantage of the large crowds to earn an extra buck, much to the chagrin of security guards.
Whether LGBT or allies, thousands of Houstonians came together to celebrate Pride Houston and show their support for LGBT rights.
Also published on Medium.
