Pride Goes on Parade
By Jacob E. Osterhout
New York Daily News
6.25.05

Tomorrow, check out the festivities at New York’s 36th annual Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride March, known simply as the Gay Pride Parade. Initially called the March on Stonewall, the Gay Pride Parade started out in 1969 as a protest against discrimination, but has become an annual symbol of gay solidarity. Grand marshals Pauline Park, Callen Lorde and Andrew Tobias kick off this joyous, rainbow-splattered event at 52nd St. The ­fiesta of leather and bright colors then winds its way southwest, eventually ending at PrideFest in the West Village, a street festival with food, shopping, artwork and live performances. After the festival, head out and dance the evening away to the beats of DJs Warren Gluck and Randy Bettis at Dance 19: The Dance on the Pier, at Pier 54 in Hudson River Park. The Gay Pride Parade starts at noon at Fifth Ave. and 52nd St. PrideFest is located at Greenwich and Washington Sts. (between Christopher and Spring Sts.) from 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Both events are free. Dance 19: The Dance on the Pier is at 13th St. at the Hudson River. It runs from 4-11 p.m. and costs $75; tickets are available only at Universal Gear (140 Eighth Ave.).

This article originally appeared in the New York Daily News on 25 June 2005.