TRAVEL
PRIDE AND POLITICS
WRITING THE “GAY AGENDA” ONE PARADE AT A TIME
BY GEORGE ZANDER
Though I wasn’t around in the 1920’s when small groups began meeting in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, I have been in parts of those same small groups starting in the 1970s. Our Coachella Valley is chock full of thousands of us who have played many roles in the history of our movement. We are a living history of our movement! When folks ask us who wrote the infamous “gay agenda,” we just say us. Our movement’s opposition has always claimed we wrote the gay agenda in dark, sleazy, smoky rooms. Well, they were right. We did write it and it was simple- “Liberty and Justice for all.” Catch words that we as a community began to see as a goal for the LGBTQ community. And 45 years later we are getting closer to that reality. So, now that this is Pride Month yet again, around our globe, millions will march, sing, dance, parade and party to celebrate our advances. Pride and Politics indeed go hand in glove and always have. The combination of hard party celebrations and the hard work of politics remain the bedrock of our Pride. To sum up the LGBTQ Political Movement and the History of Pride Festivals moving forward together, it is primarily personal stories. We must always be cognizant of how it a reminder to how personal this work in our movement has been and will continue to be…and how significant that Pride Festivals have been a integral part of the movement from the outset. Everyone has stories of the importance of a
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Pride Festival to their journey. It is crucial to not get cynical and gnarly negative about these parades. All of our generations have used these to gain acceptance and love. They are a very importance legacy. Embrace them please. Harry Hay founded the Mattachine Society in 1951 in Los Angeles, by 1955 The Daughters of Bilitis, the first Lesbian Rights organization was formed in San Francisco. It took until 1966 to have the first transgendered rights organization- formed in San Francisco. Of course the Stonewall Riots in New York City was where that largest awareness came about. It is clearly where our movement kicked into a higher level. The next year came the first Pride Parades in Los Angeles and New York City. From that day, the politics and Pride celebrations are linked. First and foremost they are parties and celebrations of who we are. The are millions of stories of LGBTQ kids and adults coming to their first Pride Parade and being one with a community. My personal involvement in the LGBTQ political movement began in the 70s. I sat of the board of the Dorian Group, a very early lobbying group in Washington State. Anita Bryant terrorized the community along with the onslaught of HIV/AIDS. Seattle beat the evil Anita, ---one of the few cities who maintained their anti-discrimination laws, and worked together to help and assist folks effected by the pandemic. And we also