UNCLE DONALD'S CASTRO STREET
The Gay Parades of the Seventies

Originally known as the GAY FREEDOM DAY PARADE AND FESTIVAL, it is a celebration of Gay Pride. The day commemorates the Stonewall Riots which occurred in Greenwich Village, New York City, in June of 1969. Stonewall is considered by many to mark the beginning of gay liberation in America. The Pride Parade quickly became the favorite exciting fun holiday of the gay community and the City's largest public event, drawing a crowd of about a half-million people each year. On these pages you will revisit the early gay parades of San Francisco. This is the story of how the political and social events of the tumultuous 1970's influenced the growth and direction of the parades, how they in turn affected the gay community and, ultimately, helped to change the world. In addition to the story, there are galleries with 231 pictures and a gallery of souvenir buttons commemorating the Gay Parades of the Seventies. UNCLE DONALD'S GAY PARADE GUIDE GAY PARADES OF THE SEVENTIES - illustrated history WATCH THE GAY PARADE - a gallery of 35 pictures 50 MORE GAY PARADE PICTURES WATCH THE GAY PARADE BOYS - 26 pictures 50 MORE PARADE BOY PICTURES UPDATE -My comments on recent pride celebrations STEVE of SC's SF PRIDE GALLERY - 70 pictures GAY PARADE BUTTON GALLERY THE GAY MARCHES ON WASHINGTON D.C. ABOUT THE RAINBOW FLAG - with a short video of the historic original 8-color flag 'P' IS FOR PARADE! - ALLITERATIVE HUMOR ABOUT THE PICTURES - one of Donald's long-winded, self-serving, part apology and part excuse, mostly bragging that I was there and you weren't, monologues that really don't say much, but go ahead and read it anyway, if you want to, kind of pages. PARADE VIDEOS - clips from some parades of the 1980's

OTHER GAY PARADE SITES ON THE WEB SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE - official homepage of the San Francisco Gay Parade DYKE MARCH - San Francisco - the Saturday night parade ILGA - INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN GAY ASSOCIATION Headquartered in Brussels, this is the worldwide federation of national and local groups dedicated to achieving equal rights. - the website has up-to-date information on the laws and news affecting gay rights INTERPRIDE - IALGPC - The International Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators - The global calendar of world pride events - The people worldwide whose efforts make the Gay Pride Parades happen. GAY USA - an article on the Bright Lights Film Journal web site about the 1977 movie by Arthur Bressan documenting various gay parades of that era. PARADE PICTURES ON THE WEB WEBCASTRO - has picture galleries of the 1996, 97, and 98 parades. CARL'S MEN ON THE STREET - has picture galleries of the 1994 and 97 through 2009 parades as well as the 1994 STONEWALL 25 celebration in New York City PHOTOS BY BIRON - 2009 Pride photos by Biron STONEWALL A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - the true story of Stonewall AFTER STONEWALL DOCUMENTS - newspaper accounts of the incident ALL LISTED LINKS WERE VERIFIED January 17, 2010

TO THE GAY PARADE BACK TO CASTRO STREET NONE OF THE ABOVE This page created March 25, 1999 and modified February 24, 2010 • Text and Graphics © 1974 - 2004 • UD Graphics • San Francisco • The information presented here is entirely my own opinion and shall in no way be considered a statement of fact. Permission to copy images is granted only for non-commercial, non-profit use.