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The front page of The New York Times ran with the headline, “Thousands of Homosexuals Hold A Protest Rally in Central Park.” The march was 51 blocks long from west of Sixth Avenue at Waverly Place, in Greenwich Village, all the way to Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park, where activists held a “Gay-in.” Borrowing a technique that had been popularized by the Civil Rights Movement, the “Gay-in” was both a protest and a celebration. That’s how the movement was most useful, because they thought, ‘Maybe I should be proud.’” The official chant for the march became, “Say it loud, gay is proud.”Īll their efforts came to fruition on June 28, 1970, the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
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In a 2015 interview with “The Allusionist,” Schoonmaker explained, “A lot of people were very repressed, they were conflicted internally, and didn’t know how to come out and be proud. When they were looking for a slogan for the event, it was Schoonmaker that suggested “Pride.” The idea of “Gay Power” was thrown around, but Schoonmaker said gay individuals lacked real power to make change, but one thing they did have was pride. Craig Schoonmaker was part of the Christopher Street Liberation Day March planning committee. The festivities turned into a week-long celebration, something many cities continue to do to this day. Making use of the Oscar Wilde mailing list, they were able to get the word out. While the proposal for a march was approved, it was the Christopher Street Liberation Day Umbrella Committee that got it planned. Meeting in Craig Rodwell’s apartment and bookstore (the Oscar Wilde Bookshop on Christopher Street), the details for the first NYC Pride Parade, then known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, were hashed out. Their proposal was for an annual march on the last Saturday in June with “no dress or age regulations.” This was a drastic change from the current methods used by LGBT activists who would host walks and vigils in silence with a required dress code: men in jackets and ties and women in dresses. Five months after the riots, activists Craig Rodwell, his partner Fred Sargeant, Ellen Brody and Linda Rhodes proposed a resolution at the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO) in Philadelphia that a march be held in New York City to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the raid. Nothing was going to change if they continued their passive, non-threatening tactics. Looking for other ways to celebrate Pride during June this year? You can still nab tickets for Pride in the Park, a two-day concert in Grant Park that is happening during the last week of June as usual.The Stonewall Riots, as they became known, made one thing clear-the LGBT movement needed to be louder and more visible.
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Traditionally, the festival-featuring music, food, drag performances and other tributes to LGBTQ culture-occurs in the days leading up to the parade. The parade will also coincide with the three-day Pride Fest celebrations, which are tentatively set for October 1–3 this year. This year's date instead marks the opening weekend of LGBTQ History Month in October, and the parade will maintain its usual route through the historically gay Northalsted neighborhood in Lakeview. The Chicago Pride Parade, which typically draws more than one million attendees to its route in Lakeview and Uptown, is usually held on the last weekend of Pride Month in June in honor of the the Stonewall Rebellion that helped kickstart the gay liberation movement. Chicago's Pride celebrations are being extended past June this year: Following last year's cancelation and uncertainty about whether large events would be possible in 2021, the Chicago Pride Parade is officially returning to Chicago on October 3, as first reported by Block Club Chicago.