For the first time, Pride was postponed
Rain saturated Boston in the spring. Commencements were moved indoors or shortened and, for the first time, Pride was postponed. Sabrina Taylor and other organizers were forced to move the Parade to July 11, but by that time people had made other plans. Pride turnout was significantly reduced. Grumblings were heard around town that maybe Pride had run its course. The Tab published an article, “Pride at a Crossroads”, describing Pride as burned out and deeply in the red. Vincent McCarthy, who had served on earlier Pride committees, said it was being “run into the ground”. Some called for a full-time paid organizer, while others said it was time to shelve Pride altogether. In the end, Harry Collings and other business leaders bailed out Pride, erasing its $30,000 deficit. Pride would go on.
On the positive side, the first Miss Massachusetts Gay Latina Pageant was held, initiating a tradition that lasted many years. The event was part of an annual celebration of Latin@ Pride sponsored by Somos Latinos. Unity Pride (disbanded in the mid-2000s), a group organized to represent people of color at Pride, began this year and put on events with Men of All Colors Together. The need for Unity Pride was best summed up by Rev. Irene Monroe in a later article: “Black Pride dances to a different beat. Sunday gospel brunches, Saturday night poetry slams, Friday evening fashion shows…the smell of soul food, Caribbean cuisines and the beautiful display of African art and clothing are just a few of the cultural markers that made Black Pride distinctly different.”[1]
Parade Grand Marshals
Nancy Nangeroni is a diversity educator and transgender community activist. She is a founder of GenderTalk Radio, the award-winning talk show about gender and transgender issues that was broadcast from 1995 to 2006 on WMBUR, Cambridge, MA
Leslie Feinberg one of the most prominent transgender rights activists today. Feinberg was the first theorist to advance a Marxist concept of “transgender liberation,” and hir work impacted popular culture, academic research, and political organizing.
Abe Rybeck a trans/gay activist. In 1989, Abe Rybeck and a group of artist-activists formed The Theater Offensive (TTO) to expand on the success of the gay men’s guerrilla theater troupe: United Fruit Company.
Photos and Memorabilia from 1998
LGBTQ Historical Highlights
- Governor’s Task Force on Hate Crimes creates the Student Civil Rights Project to conduct outreach into schools to prevent bullying and hate crimes[2]
- GLAD challenges the constitutionality of the state’s archaic sodomy law in court; Supreme Judicial Court says in dicta that the law is unconstitutional[2]
- Matthew Shephard is tortured and killed by homophobic assailants in Wyoming; Massachusetts activists hold a rally at the State House[2]
Event Details
Date: June 5-13, 1998
Theme: Retro Pride: Celebrate the Past; Create the Future
Organized by: Boston Pride Committee, Inc.
Co Chairs: Eric Pliner & Sabrina Taylor
Members Included: Bill Berggren, Susan Day, Judah Abijah Dorrington, Eric Farkas, Joe Fisher, Imani Henry, Shawn Jacobs, Jeff Mosier, Regan Scherer, Richard Sobel, Juliet Warrington and Myke Weiskopf.
Parade Route
START – Copley Sq., Boylston St., Right on Clarendon St., Left on Tremont St., Left on Berkeley St., Right on Boylston St., Left on Charles St., END – Boston Common