On June 16, the temperature reached 93 degrees, which may have adversely affected attendance, estimated at 5,000.
Pride co-chairs Joe Interrante (who helped found The History Project in February 1980) and Kathy Travers were concerned that Pride Week events were too oriented to white, middle-class men, despite the increase in lesbian attendance.
Planning meetings were held at Harriet Tubman House as a way to address the needs of working-class gays and racial minorities.
The Rally was broadcast on WBCN-FM and 89.9, an MIT radio station. Speakers included Beverly Smith and Ellie Johnson of the Combahee River Collective, a black lesbian feminist group, Gail Bradley of Parents of Gays, and Armando Gaitan of the October 4th Coalition, who urged everyone to attend the upcoming National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.[1]
Photos and Memorabilia from 1979
LGBTQ Historical Highlights
- The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, held on October 14, 1979, was inspired in part by the assassination of openly gay California politician Harvey Milk.[2]
Event Details
Date: June 16, 1979
Theme:
Organized by:
Parade Route
START – Copley Sq., Down Boylston St., Left on Charles St., Right on Cambridge St., To Tremont St., Right on Park St., Left on Beacon St. END – Boston Common
Links of Interest
- The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights
References:
Photo Credits
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Crowd of men and women on the Boston Common during the 1979 Boston Pride March Credit: 1979_GCN,BPP-00.058_ M. Thompson
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Unknown, “Community members in Boston’s annual Pride march holding a sign that reads “Women Hold Up Half the Sky”,” Documented | Digital Collections of The History Project, accessed April 5, 2023, https://historyproject.omeka.net/items/show/46.