The History Behind The Gay Parade
To most gay and lesbian people, the gay pride parade is a great source of pride. Gay pride parades are now organized in almost all cities. A lot of gay travel is planned around the gay parade.
New York City is the birth place of the modern gay rights movement, so it hosts one of the world's biggest and best gay pride events. A full week of activities begins with a rally and ends with a parade. Most lesbian women, who plan to attend the gay parade, visit New York City between June 18 and June 25. The first gay parade happened in June 27, 1969, in New York City. The events that led to the first gay parade are still a source of great pride for gays and lesbian women. It all happened because in 1969, members of the gay and lesbian community were not very widely accepted and there were not a lot of gay-friendly bars. On June 27, 1969, when the police attacked a gay friendly bar called the Stonewall, lesbians and gays fought back. The patrons of the friendly bar threw bottles and rocks at the police. They chanted, "Gay Power!" The word of the retaliation of gay and lesbians from the friendly bar spread around. The event became known as the Stonewall Rebellion or Stonewall Riots. Although there was a small gay rights movement prior to Stonewall, after 1969 the movement changed. Since the fight at the friendly inn, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people celebrate pride and call for basic civil rights by commemorating Stonewall. In New York City, gays and lesbian women march every June in celebration of the Stonewall incident. New York City is not the only city in the world to organize such a gay parade. There are several cities across the nation where gay parades are held. Members of the gay community as well as lesbian women are participants of the march. Apart from New York, Amsterdam hosts one of the biggest gay pride events in the world. Most young couples travel to Amsterdam to take part in the parade. The small streets of Amsterdam are bustling with crowds during this time. The reason that the gay parade in Amsterdam is so popular among young couples is that it is a lot different from all other gay parades. Whereas most gay pride parades take to the streets, in Amsterdam 100 decorated boats sail through the Prinsengracht River. More than 350,000 spectators watch every year. A lot of gays and lesbian women also travel to Sydney for its Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. In fact, gay history in Sydney has a lot in common with gay history in New York. That's why a lot of young couples go to Sydney to participate in the celebrations.
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