‘I Can Be Me’: Philly’s Gay Pride March marks 50 years

On a cool, cloudy Sunday in June 1972, a crowd of about 2,500 gathered in Rittenhouse Square and marched down Chestnut Street toward Independence Hall – the first tentative steps in the first parade of gay pride. city.

Some left masks and chains on the Sardinians, symbolically removing the guilt and shame they had learned to bear for being just what they were. “There are a lot of homosexuals,” he said that day, “who feel lonely.”

Fifty years later, a sea of ​​thousands of rainbows gathered in front of the National Constitution Center on Sunday to remember past struggles, celebrate the diversity and success of the LGBTQ community, and steel it for political attacks in growth that threaten to reveal hard-earned rights.

Minutes before marchers on the PHL Pride Festival embark on a two-hour drive through Center City under a cloudless sky, Dominic Bey, 24, was wearing a Deadpool T-shirt and rainbow bracelets on a lawn near the Center. of Visitors of Independence, and expressed gratitude. for the meeting.

“Everyone is like you. You can just be comfortable, and you don’t have to worry,” he said.

Bey, a trans man, was not deterred by a mass shooting Saturday on South Street that left three people dead and 11 injured. “We’ll have this one day,” he said, “so we don’t think about all the horrible things that happen all the time.”

In February, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state child welfare officials to investigate the parents of transgender children for child abuse if their children had received care for gender claims. .

A month later, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – who is often cited as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2024 – signed a law banning schools from teaching kindergarten students in the third grade on high school. sexual orientation. Since then the State Department of Health has advised doctors that sex reassignment surgery, blockade of puberty and hormone therapy should not be available to minors.

“All that has to do with trans children, and trans-affirmation care, for me, is just very clear that it’s not about protecting children,” said Rachele Fortier, an organizer with Philly Dyke. March, who co-produced Sunday. march with the PHL Pride Collective run by volunteers. “It’s about trying to get rid of trans people, and about trying to force kids to be people who aren’t.”

The clouds of political storm are not just gathered from afar. In the second half of 2021, at least 456 book bans were reported in Pennsylvania’s school libraries – second only to Texas. Book banners have been coordinated in school districts across the country, and focus largely on removing shelving stories that introduce readers to characters and themes about LGBTQ communities and communities of color.

Last month, Doug Mastriano won a Republican primary race in Pennsylvania for governor, and addressed the LGBTQ community during his victory speech. “On the first day [of his administration], you can only use the bathroom that your biology and anatomy tell you,” he said. “That’s how low we went.”

As Sunday’s long walk along Arch Street toward Eighth Street, Inez Brown, 55, of North Philadelphia, acknowledged the severity of the current weather. “If people don’t wake up,” Brown said, “they will lose [their rights].”

“It’s traumatic. It’s a scary time,” said Tatiana Darden, 27, who identifies as bisexual. “But we can’t stop living. The more we continue, the stronger we will be as a community.”

Resilience has been an issue since the first march of pride, in 1972. The Inquirer said some spectators on the sidewalk murmured their disapproval of the protesters, while then-Mayor Frank Rizzo – who had tormented the gay community years earlier as police commissioner – he told the Daily News he had refused to designate the day as “Gay Pride Day” because “it has gone a little too far”.

A handful of protesters on Sunday released “Homos Go to Hell!” signs on Arch Street, but were greeted by a crowd of protesters whose voices swelled as they sang, “We’re proud!”

Jamese Williams, 18, said the hostility towards LGBTQ people made him a little hesitant to attend the march. “He started pushing me back towards the hole I was crawling from. It took me a long time to be there,” Williams said, as a bisexual pink, purple and blue flag hung from his shoulders. “But I feel really good. It could be me. If I had to choose a word for what I feel, I’d be ‘free.’

This year’s march is the first organized by the PHL Pride Collective and the Philly Dyke March. Philly Pride Presents, the long-time organizer of past parades, disbanded last year in response to criticism from the LGBTQ community.

The new march was intended to focus more on marginalized members of the community, and recognizes pioneers such as Gloria Casarez, the city’s first director of LGBTQ affairs, and a founding member of Philly Dyke March. Casarez died in 2014; a mural was painted in his honor on 12th Street Gym – and later covered by the developers.

A fabric replica of the mural bowed in a light afternoon breeze as 77-year-old Steve Angell leaned against a tree on the 12th near Locust and smiled appreciatively at a handful of young people dancing. in the street.

“It took me until I was in my early 40s to get out,” said Angell, who wore a red T-shirt engraved with a Phillies rainbow logo. “Things are definitely a little better today than then, of course.”

The march gave way to a festival in the heart of the city’s Gayborhood. Music pounded in the streets, drowning, for a moment, every thought on mass guns or harmful legislation. The sun was setting low in the sky, and rainbow flags and pride T-shirts seemed to be on every street corner and sidewalk for blocks – a sight that might have been too imaginative for the first pride marchers five decades earlier. , some of which. he just wanted to be accepted.

“Hate will always exist. It’s unfortunate, but it’s the truth,” said Stephan Burse, who has set his age as in his mid-30s as if he were on 13th Street near Walnut. “We just have to be brighter than darkness.”

On his shirt was printed a word: “Human”.

How do I get rid of pride?

6 Ways to Overcome Your Pride

  • Be Conscious. While pride shows you enough value in yourself and your accomplishments and helps you work toward what you deserve, it’s dangerous in large quantities. …
  • Don’t take yourself too seriously. …
  • Ask the right questions. …
  • Be Open-Minded. …
  • Listen, don’t talk. …
  • Put your business first.

How Does God Treat Our Pride? Pride Is Serious That is why Scripture says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5: 5 “Be submissive, young men, in the same way that you are submissive. to the humble. “

What is the root cause of pride?

Pride is often driven by poor self-esteem and shame. We feel so bad about ourselves that we feel compelled to feel superior. We seek the faults of others as a way to hide our own.

What is pride according to the Bible?

Pride Is Serious That is why Scripture says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5: 5 “Be submissive, young men, in the same way that you are submissive. to the humble “. ‘â €

Is pride the root of all evil?

Lust, envy, anger, greed, greed and laziness are all evil, say the wise, but pride is the deadliest of all, the root of all evil, and the beginning of the what a pity.

What is happy pride month?

LGBT Pride Month is being held in the United States to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which took place in late June 1969. As a result, several pride events are being held during this month to recognize the impact that LGBT people have had. in the world.

Why Pride Month in October? October was chosen by Wilson as the month for the celebration because the first and second LGBT Marches in Washington, in 1979 and 1987, were in October; National Coming Out Day is October 11, chosen to mark the date of the Second March in Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, and October is in the …

What are the different Pride months?

Given nameDataYear Begins
Month of LGBT historyOctober1994
The month of LGBT prideJune
Pulse Night of RemembranceJune 12th2017
Day of the SpiritThe third Thursday in October2010

What is considered pride month?

“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently being celebrated every year in June in honor of the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall uprising was a turning point for the Movement. of Gay Liberation in the United States.

How many genders are there?

There are many different gender identities, including male, female, transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these.

How many sexes are there technically? Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories, and people are considered part of one or the other (boys / men and women / women); those that exist outside of these groups may fall under the term non-binary umbrella.

Are there 3 genders?

In many cultures around the world there are traditionally third sex identities or gender fluids. “There are the Hijras in India, what are known as bisexual people in Native American culture, Muxe in Mexico, and the Bakla in the Philippines.

Are there more than 2 sexes?

Based on the only criteria for the production of reproductive cells, there are two and only two sexes: the female sex, capable of producing large gametes (eggs), and the male sex, which produces small gametes (sperm).

How many 3rd genders are there?

There is finally an official account of the third sex in the country – 4.9 lakh.

What are the 3 types of gender?

The four sexes are male, female, neutral and common. There are four different types of gender that apply to living and non-living objects.

What are 3rd genders called?

Often called transgender by foreigners, Indian society and most hijras consider themselves the third sex – neither male nor female, with no transition. They are a different genre altogether.

Is SF having a pride parade?

San Francisco Pride
FrequencyThe last weekend of June
Place (s)San Francisco, California
Inaugurated1970
Assistance1,700,000

Where is Pride in San Francisco? Beyond the parade, this year’s Pride Center will be the return of celebrations at the Civic Center. From noon to 6 p.m. June 25, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On June 26, Civic Center Plaza and nearby streets will be the main stage area for entertainment, with several booths and musical acts.

What Street is San Francisco Pride?

The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. June 26, 2020 at Beale Market and Highway and ending at Market and Eighth Street. Thousands of parade goers flock to Market Street to watch and pick up more than 200 parade contingents as they pass through San Francisco.

Where is pride held in San Francisco?

The San Francisco Pride Parade will allow some uniformed police to march, reducing the ban. Isabel Samaras will perform at Civic Center Plaza during the 2019 San Francisco Pride Parade. This year’s event will be the first Pride Parade held since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Where is SF Pride 2022?

Where is SF Pride?

The San Francisco Pride Parade is a world-famous LGBT pride parade. It is held on Sunday morning of the Festival. The street is usually west along San Francisco’s Market Street, from Steuart Street to 8th Street, and runs from 10:30 am until about 4:00 pm.