UNCLE DONALD presents The GAY FREEDOM DAY PARADE and CELEBRATION PAGE 2 T H E . .P I C T U R E S . .O F THE GAY PARADES OF THE SEVENTIES CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE THE FULL SIZE PICTURE THE GAY PARADES OF THE 1970'S were like parades are supposed to be. They were a political statement, an act of courage, a celebration of pride. They were colorful with brilliant and impressive floats, and had lots of singing and music. The picture on the left shows MAESTRO JON SIMMS leading the SAN FRANCISCO GAY FREEDOM DAY MARCHING BAND AND TWIRLING CORPS which he organized. He was also responsible for creating the SAN FRANCISCO GAY MENS CHORUS. A lot of talent and creativity went into creating fabulous floats. The CASTRO CAFE turned a truck cab into an Egyptian Throne overnight. The gay community of Fresno, California, 200 miles away, created a flawless american flag out of crepe paper, flowers, and a flatbed trailer. In 1975 the reigning EMPRESS DORIS, not to be outdazzled by a female impersonater from Finocchios, chartered an elephant to ride in the parade. Is there a difference between a drag queen and a female impersonater? The nun on the left, above, was way ahead of her time. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence didn't arrive on the scene until 5 years later. "Punks Against Fascism?" No Comment! REMEMBER! THESE ARE THUMBNAILS. CLICK FOR ENLARGEMENTS. HARVEY MILK HARRY BRITT MILK CLUB HARRY BRITT The name of HARVEY MILK has become synonymous with the struggle for gay civil rights. That's him above, selling raffle tickets at the 1974 post-parade festival. He rode in the 1978 parade as the first openly-gay elected official and was assassinated 5 months later in City Hall. HARRY BRITT, who replaced Milk on the Board of Supervisors, is shown in 2 later parades. In Between is a picture of some members of the HARVEY MILK GAY DEMOCRATIC CLUB. Nice looking members in Levis on the right! WILLIE BROWN CAROL RUTH SILVER RICHARD HONGISTO MILTON MARKS Four of the San Francisco gay community's strongest political allies are above. BROWN and HONGISTO both flew to Miami to speak out against ANITA BRYANT. Brown was then a State Assemblyman. He is now Mayor of San Francisco. Hongisto was then County Sheriff, later a Supervisor and then Chief of Police. As a member of the Board of Supervisors, CAROL RUTH SILVER was a co-conspirator and good friend of Milk. She and Brown were also on Dan White's hit list the day he assassinated Milk and Mayor Moscone, but they were fortunate not to cross paths with White. MILTON MARKS was the State Senator from San Francisco. He was a Republican but a staunch supporter of jewish and gay rights. He regularly attended gay events and went to all the gay bars at election time, shaking hands and asking for votes. He was friendly and warm; a good man. He switched to the Democratic party in the mid-80's; died in '98 at age 78. Walking behind Senator Marks in a red shirt is SCOTT SMITH , Harvey Milk's lover and business partner. More than anyone else, Smith was responsible for Milk's success, and he deserves much more recognition than he gets. TOURISTS FOR GAY RIGHTS ORDER OF DISPLACED OKIES GAYS FOR LSD GAYS AGAINST BRUNCH No matter how serious the issues affecting the gay community, you could always depend on a day filled with beautiful people, a festive atmosphere, outrageous humor, and lively entertainment at THE GAY PARADES OF THE SEVENTIES. TO PARADE PICTURES - PAGE 3 BACK TO PARADE INDEX BACK TO CASTRO STREET This page created June 3, 2000 and modified November 5, 2001 • Text and Graphics © 1972 - 2000 • UD Graphics • San Francisco • Permission to copy images is granted only for non-commercial, non-profit use.