It also saw the creation of the first Parade order, starting with the Pride banner.
For the first and only time, a non-gay organization, the Braintree Braves Drum and Bugle Corps, was hired to lead the March (right behind the Gay Pride Week banner). This was a youth group. None of the members were over the age of 14. They were paid $50 for marching. (cite: The History Project)
The Committee crowned Sylvia Sidney, a well-known Boston drag performer, as the first Queen of the Parade.
Grand Marshall was Skip Rosenthal
Attendance was estimated at 300-500 people.
Over the weekend of June 23-24, a fire at the UpStairs Lounge, a New Orleans gay bar, killed 29 people and severely injured many others. Proceeds in the amount of $256 from a Pride event was sent to the victims of the fire. Among the workshops were “Where Are We in the Gay Movement?”, “Transsexuals and Transvestites”, “Gay Women”, and “High School Organizing”.
The first issue of Gay Community News was published in time for distribution at Pride.
Participants were given sheets of paper containing chants, for instance, “come out, come out of the park wherever you are”.[1]
Photos and Memorabilia from 1973
LGBTQ Historical Highlights
- The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II), based largely on the research of and advocacy of Evelyn Hooker.
- An arsonist sets fire to an LGBT bar in New Orleans, the Up Stairs Lounge, killing 32 homosexuals and becoming the largest gay mass murder in the US.
- Mass Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus is founded[3]
- Lesbian/Gay Civil Rights Bill introduced in the Massachusetts legislature[3]
Event Details
Date: Gay Pride Week June 16 – 21, 1973. March was on June 16th
Theme: ???
Organized by: Gay Pride Week Planning Committee. Members: Skip Rosenthal, Charlie Shivley, and Ellen B. Davis.
Parade Route
START – Copley Sq., Down Dartmouth St., Right on Commonwealth Ave., Left on Arlington St., Right on Boylston St., Left on Charles St., Right on Cambridge St., To Tremont St., Right on Park St., Left on Beacon St. END – Parkman Bandstand