It’s June and this is the month of LGBTQ+ pride. The celebrations and protests are held in different parts of the world. But why June?
It all began in the United States in June 1969 with the Stonewall Revolts. During the 1960s, there were few places that accepted LGBTs, because loving someone of the same sex was considered life imprisonment. But there was a bar in New York, called the Stonewall Inn, which brought together the most marginalized part of the community: transgenders, gay effeminate men, masculine lesbians and drag queens.
In 1969, tired of so much injustice, the LGBT community, which met at the bar, decided to act. For days they confronted the police, who imprisoned them with violence and oppression. Several newspapers began to echo the movements that were forming in New York’s neighborhood. What began as a revolt against police oppression at the bar turned into a broader LGBT rights struggle.
In 1970, the year following the Stonewall Uprisings, the first LGBT Parades took place in the USA, celebrating the anniversary of the event. The exact date of the commemoration is June 28 – International LGBT Pride Day. And since then, every year, more and more cities have come together and organized to fight for LGBT rights.
Listed below are the world’s most famous LGBT parades that attract hundreds of thousands of people every year to uphold the equal rights for all:
7. Oslo, Norway
Image Source: Gay Travel 4u
Norway’s largest festival for the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual population, with concerts, art exhibits, shows, film screenings, parties and political debates happens since 1982. The Pride Park festival area consists in more than 150 small and large events over the course of ten days. Oslo Gay Pride’s aims is to make LGBT culture more visible and contribute to increase the acceptance and respect for the LGBT community in Norway. The big Oslo Pride parade passes through the streets of Oslo, and tens of thousands of people are expected to join or watch what has become one of Oslo’s largest public celebrations.
This year the parade will take place on June 30 at 1pm at Grønland and goes through the city centre to the festival hub, Pride Park in Spikersuppa. The parade is open and free for all LGBT-people, their friends and relatives, or anyone that supports the cause for a celebration of acceptance, love and joy.
6. Tel Aviv, Israel
Image Source: Guy Yechiel from Israel Sun Photo
The Pride Parade happens in Tel Aviv since 1993. Great music, drag queens shows and speeches excite the LGBT audience from 10 am to 3 pm, when a beach party begins and lasts until sunset.
This year the parade will happen on July 8 at 10am, in a large fair at Me’ir Park (Gan Me’ir) and then take you along the beautiful streets of Tel Aviv towards the city’s Charles Clore beach where the famous beach party will be held. Tel Aviv is a diverse city, with multicultural influences, tourists from all over the world and open minded locals. Every summer, people of every gender, religion and color flood the streets and unite for a celebration.
5. New York, USA
There is no better place to celebrate LGBT pride than the cradle of the modern LGBT rights movement. The NY Pride Parade crosses Fifth Avenue, past Stonewall Inn – site of the Stonewall Revolt in 1969 –, and ends at Greenwich Village. Participants are animated and use more than 50 floats full of color. The first March was held in 1970 and since then has become an annual civil rights demonstration. Over the years, its purpose has broadened to include recognition of the fight against the HIV virus and to remember those we have lost for it. With over 110 floats making the trek down Fifth Avenue, last year’s March was one of the largest and most exciting in history.
4. Amsterdam, Netherlands
Image Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency
One of the most unusual LGBT parades in the world is certainly the Amsterdam’s Canal Parade. Instead of using the streets to celebrate the love of all genders and freedom of expression, the participants board colorful and decorated boats and navigate the city’s canals. The parade runs every year in the first week of August. During that week, the capital of the Netherlands also becomes the capital of diversity.
In 2018, the parade will take place between August 3 and 5 with street parties all weekend long, the best club circuit parties and of course the famous Canal Parade on Saturday. The LGBT pride weekend is one of the busiest in Amsterdam.
3. San Francisco, USA
Image Source: Mira Laing from Special to S.F. Examiner
Besides being one of the biggest LGBT parades in the world, the San Francisco Parade is also one of the oldest: it has 48 years and was the first to be recognized worldwide. San Francisco is one of the most famous gay-friendly destinations in the world. The Castro neighborhood becomes a LGBT epicenter, where the LGBT Historical Society, a museum that tells the story of the struggle for the community rights, is located. During the month of June the city hosts several other events, such as the Frameline 40, a LGBT film show.
2. Toronto, Canada
Known as Pride Toronto, the LGBT Parade in Canada’s largest city is one of the most anticipated summer events. Pride Toronto is the largest parade of gays, lesbians, transsexuals and bisexuals from across North America. There are more than 1 million people parading through the streets of the city. Toronto is world renowned for being a cosmopolitan city, so it’s not surprising that the place also celebrates the sexual diversity.
Last year’s parade was attended by the illustrious presence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the first political leader to attend the Toronto LGBT Pride Parade.
1. São Paulo, Brazil
Image Source: Victor Moriyama – Getty Images
The first edition of the Parade of LGBT Pride in São Paulo took place in June 1997, at Avenida Paulista. A scene of protests and celebrations, the avenue welcomed about 2,000 gay men, lesbians, transvestites and bisexual activists to celebrate pride and protest against prejudice. Today, the LGBT Parade has grown much from the 2,000 supporters of the first edition, bringing together 2.5 million people, leading to the Guiness Book with the world’s largest LGBT Pride Parade record in 2006.
This year, the Parade on Av. Paulista gathered thousands of people with the theme “Our vote, our voice”. With more than 18 electric trios of the LGBT scene, one of the guests was the architect Mônica Benício, widow of the councilwoman Marielle Franco (PSOL-RJ), murdered in Rio de Janeiro on March 14 of this year.
Monica participated in the opening of the Parade, alongside Drag Queen Tchaka, who commanded the main trio of the event. Excited, Mônica reinforced Marielle’s legacy and political action in defense of human rights. “We are going to the avenue to ask for respect, lamenting the deaths. The parade is a party, but one day I hope it will be a celebration of the rights won and maintained.” For now, it is a struggle, says the president of APOGLBT /SP, Claudia Regina dos Santos Garcia.