Monday, June 13, 2005

More Folk Less Skin Pride Parade

Coming up on 35 years of Gay Pride parades in Boston, this year's version was big – about 8,000 walking, 200,000 watching on Saturday. There was less effort to shock and make personal physical statements. There was more political talk.

This year's organizers themed it Pride in Progress...What's Your Fight? The idea is that while same-sex marriage is in place here, "Gays are still discriminated against in the workplace, children of gay parents are discriminated against," said Pride Committee Director Aandre Davis. "It's still not legal in the rest of the country to get married and AIDS is still a big issue. Until we resolve these matters, the fight is not over."

The Boston Globe coverage noted that this year's parade had numerous corporate and political sponsors. Its article called this trend "another sign of the parade's increasing appeal to the mainstream."

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