10 Biggest Gay Events in the United States

In this article we are going to list the 10 biggest gay events in the United States. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 5 biggest gay events in the United States.

A couple of decades ago, any public declaration of a person’s sexual orientation other than that which was ‘standard’ was rare. Those who did belong to the LGBTQ community were kept hidden and often led double lives to avoid persecution. Keeping this open secret was a necessary action, as revelation of an individual’s membership in the queer community often meant they would have to face real-life consequences. Such individuals would lose their jobs, be ridiculed among friends and family, and face extreme societal persecution. This constant cycle of repression of a person’s inner self often led to depression and a decline in mental health for members of the LGBTQ community.

Today, this is not the case. Today, representation of members of the LGBTQ community is very common, on all forms of mainstream media. We now have openly gay CEOs, for example Tim Cook who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Fortune 500 company Apple Inc. You can learn more about them if you take a look at the biggest companies with gay CEOs. There are transgender actors and celebrities starring in major television and movie productions, such as Laverne Cox from Orange is the New Black. Laverne Cox also has the distinction of being the first openly transgender person to be on the covers of both Time and Cosmopolitan magazines, as well as the first openly transgender person to have a wax figure placed at the world-renowned Madame Tussauds wax museum. Perhaps the largest milestone of gay acceptance was demonstrated with the 2015 legalization of same-sex marriages in the United States.

Even though the situation today is much more accepting and inviting for the gay community than it was a couple decades ago, there is still a lot of societal judgement and overall lack of understanding in much of the world. The above-mentioned milestones and measures of acceptance are only limited to certain parts of the western world. In Eastern countries, openly admitting to being a part of the LGBTQ community can be a serious offence, both at a societal or federal level. Because of the negative consequences that they may face should they go public, people from the gay community must hide their preferences to feel socially accepted. You will not see any mention of the LBTQ community in mainstream media, schools, or common conversation in much of the Middle East and East Asian countries. It is an open secret, but rarely ever spoken about. This hush-hush attitude towards the LBTQ community has led to other negative consequences, with members of the community becoming trapped in forced marriages and in extreme cases, ending up as honor killing victims.

In order to celebrate the social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, and queer (LBTQ) community, outdoor events are held all over the United States. These events are referred to as parades, pride marches, pride events, and pride festivals and often take place annually in the month of June. The reason for this is to  commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, a moment considered pivotal in the history of LGBTQ acceptance. These events aim to foster dialogue, create community, and honor the history of the movement. Even companies are now jumping on the bandwagon, and many companies are now well-known for being supportive of the LGBT community, including Nike (NYSE:NKE), General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

In 1970, marches in the name of pride and protest were held in four major cities of the US, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. These events were a tribute to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. These events eventually morphed in the parades and festivals that we know today. They are now being held annually, with the attendance of participants and supporters growing larger and larger. A weekend pride parade and festival would take the better part of a year to plan and coordinate, with high levels of security and alternate routes planned to accommodate the participants being planned as well. Today, events with the overall attendance in the millions is not uncommon. Here we have compiled a list of the 10 biggest gay events in the United States. So, let us take a look starting with number 10:

10. Twin Cities Pride Festival 2016

Attendance: 400,000

Run by the nonprofit organization Twin Cities Pride, this festival is run annually every June in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and St. Paul, Minnesota. The celebration features both a parade and a festival. The pride parade is the festival’s highlight, drawing crowds of 400,000 people. The 2016 festival was particularly well attended, as it came only two weeks after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The festival focused on peace, with a segment of the final portion of the festival, the parade, recognizing the victims of the massacre. The segment showed a group of people holding photos of each of the 49 victims that were killed.

9. Los Angeles Pride Parade 2015

Attendance: 400,000

The Los Angeles Pride Parade celebrated its 45^th Birthday on the second weekend of June 2015. Held in West Hollywood, thousands of people lined the Santa Monica Boulevard to celebrate the lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual communities. The parade began at Crescent Heights Boulevard and continued in the western direction along Santa Monica Boulevard to Robertson Boulevard. LA Pride has a tradition to keep a moment of silence at noon every year, to remember those who have passed and commemorate those who have fought. One of the grand marshals of the event was Troy Perry, the only living organizer of the world’s first permitted Pride Parade in held in 1970. This was the first commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York City, and paved the way for what Pride has become today.

8. Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and Parade 2017

Attendance: 500,000

The 2017 Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival marked the 36^th Pride celebration in the midwestern state Columbus, Ohio, on the dates Jun16-17. The event has always been traditionally held on the 3^rd Friday and Saturday of June, and that year was no different. The festival began as 3 young men organizing a small march down High Street and has grown into a three-day long celebration with over 500,000 attendees. The 2017 festival was a bit different than its predecessors, as it took place in Bicentennial and Genoa parks, rather than the Short North’s Goodale Park where it had been taking place for the past eight years. The 2017 Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival made headlines when a group of activists peacefully disrupted the event to highlight the previous day’s acquittal of a Minnesota police officer who one-year prior killed Philando Castile. The activists said they planned this demonstration to raise awareness about violence against black and brown queer and trans people but were soon arrested on various charges of misconduct with law enforcement.

7. Denver PrideFest 2019

Attendance: 525,000

A Denver constant since 1990, The Denver PrideFest 2019 was held in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event which has sparked the modern gay rights movement all over the country. In 2019, a record number of groups march in the parade at 250. The attendance was also a record breaker, exceeding the last year’s estimated attendance by approximately 100,000 attendees. The event took place at Civic Center Park in downtown Denver and went on for two days. Activities featured live entertainment on three stages, more than 200 exhibitors, a PRIDE 5K race from Colorado State Capitol building, and Coors Light Denver Pride Parade.

6. 2019 Boston Pride Parade

Attendance: 750,000

The 2019 Boston Pride Parade marked the 49^th pride parade in the city of Boston, as well as the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots. The theme for the event was Looking Back, Loving Forward, meant to reflect all the strides the gay community has made since the past five decades. The parade route went on for more than two miles, finishing at the City Hall Plaza. Headlining acts were of American Idol semifinalist and Broadway performer Todrick Hall, and singers Robin S. and Beth Sacks. The 2019 Boston Pride Parade had an additional feature of the Unity of Pride flag and The River of Pride flag, the latter of which is about 900 feet long. The flag was so long that around 600 to 900 people were asked to step in and carry the flag. The event also highlighted a record number of 430 registered marching groups.

Please continue to see the 5 biggest gay events in the US.

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Disclosure: No position. 10 biggest gay events in the US is originally published at Insider Monkey.