Pride Event Management

Pride celebration events are often the highlight of the LGBTQ community's yearly calendar. Such events are now held around the world and throughout the year.

Perhaps the most high profile event for the community is the Pride Parade. The world’s first Pride Parade, dubbed the Gay Liberation Parade, was held in New York City in 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. Similar events quickly established themselves around the world, though they were small and regional events compared to the massively organized Pride Parades we witness today throughout the developed world. At their inception, they were controversial and regarded disparagingly by the population in general. The LGBTQ community did not care, however – they viewed such parades as legitimate annual celebratory opportunities to affirm their identity, dress and act outrageously, freely congregate, and be happy as a community for one day in the life of a marginalized, suppressed population.

InterPride, the organization which coordinates and monitors all of the international Pride activities around the world, has identified 944 of such annual events in 2016. Among the newest are those in countries with aggressive homophobic legislation such as Rwanda (2014) and Jamaica (2015). Indeed, many Pride events are held in countries that prohibit same-sex relationships and have government legislation which punishes individuals associated with organizing or participating in such events, making any such individuals heroes in the community around the world.

Pride events have also been political events. They have celebrated many of the political and legislative advances made by the LGBTQ community. More recently, they have become a means to highlight the shortcomings of the LGBTQ community itself, particularly in terms of racial and other minority respect and inclusion within the community. In South Africa, Pride events have been used to advocate against hate crimes against the community. In 2017, controversy surrounded the decision to replace the traditional Pride parade with a political action and protest march.

There are many individuals who work behind the scenes to make Pride events successful. We have identified the following individuals who have played key roles. Simply click on their names to read their fascinating biographies.

Argentina