Tracy Love was brought in as parade director and asked to form a parade crew that operated in collaboration with, but somewhat independently from the board. With that being said we feel that it is time to change the name to recognize the community that we live in and to communicate the fact that Pride is now a 3 day event with a pre-party “The Big Gay Dance Party”, and concert the night before, and the Sunday Brunch Crawl the day after." They are self-sufficient now, but of course we support them and we’re still here if they need us. Also, other cities and communities in Arkansas and Mississippi have started to host their own pride festivals. We organize and host many events in our community. "Mid-South Pride is more than the festival and parade. President Vanessa Rodley when asked why explained. Memphis Pride disbanded after the 2003 parade when Kay Mills retired and Patty Pair decided not to produce the event that year.īecause of the tremendous growth the pride celebrations and the Memphis LGBTQ+ community itself, the board decided in 2017 to make a change and rename the annual festival to "Memphis Pride Fest". What it takes is love of our hard-won freedoms, it takes commitment to the ideal which is LGBTQ+ Pride and it could take the faces of a thousand happy young people or the face of just one person who has finally been convinced that he or she is neither alone, nor perverted, nor damned. It reaps a little praise and a lot of bitching. It entails diplomacy which would qualify for the United Nations. Pride has always been an all-volunteer organization. It isn’t money that makes a person help produce a Pride celebration.
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There is really not enough space to list them all nor the many sponsors and supporters who have made it possible. This will include many individuals that have worked diligently, especially during the days right before the event, to bring the huge events that make up Pride to the community. There were no individual Grand Marshals in 2003, but those who have served on Pride boards will have places on the lead float. even a grandmother with her grandchildren such a fun day.much thanks to Matthew was dressed as a cop.the motor cycle cops kept coming up to see who I was too much fun" - Robert Hamby (aka "Skeeter") "It was a lot of work but we got it together by the time we started out we had a bunch of different professionals. Live music was featured at the rally.įirst Place winning float in first Memphis Pride Parade (photo above by Hunter Johnston) was presented by Tsaurus. Since then, Grand Marshals have been selected for either personal community service or as a tribute. Meristem and friends lead the Parade as the first honorary Grand Marshals. The first theme, “Together With Pride” was printed on a souvenir bandana. It was a long route, all the way from Madison and McNeil to Peabody and Cooper. All three of these individuals would figure in other Pride celebrations. The committee chair was Vincent Astor with secretary John Prowett and treasurer Tommy Simmons.
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There were no formal officers elected until the charter was received in June.
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The rationale was that some people will come to a March but everybody loves a Parade. The 1994 event is significant as it was the first event planned as a Parade. As more details become available, we will add them to the timeline. Davin Clemons and rebranded as "Tri-State Pride". In 2018, Memphis Black Pride was passed down to Dr. "Memphis Black Pride" was founded by Terrell Buckner who produced first Memphis Black Pride celebration somewhere in the mid-to-late 1990s. Just over 800 people attended the first event to call themselves a “Black Pride”. Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland and Ernest Hopkins, founders of DC Black and Lesbian Gay Pride Day as it was called in 1991, wanted to continue what had become a tradition in the Black LGBT community buy adding an important consideration – they were going to raise funds for organizations who provided services to Blacks/African Americans affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS, and disseminate important HIV/AIDS prevention information to attendees of the “Black Pride” event. The Club House closed its doors in 1991 in part due to the heavy toll that HIV/AIDS was having on the staff.
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Most of the Children’s Hour festivities were held in a Black gay frequented bar called the Club House that was very popular from the 70’s to its closing in the early 90’s. In 1991, a group of Black gay men and women in Washington, DC decided to take advantage of an annual Memorial Day weekend gathering called the “Children’s Hour”.