GAY PRIDE WEEK
It's a party, parade
and a history lesson
A community examines
its struggles while praising
how far Houston has
come
By ZEKE MINAYA,
HustonChronical.com from the Web, June 25, 2006
Houston, Texas -- Thousands of
people packed the Montrose area Saturday for a street festival and the 28th
annual Pride Houston Parade down Westheimer, featuring more than 100 floats and
participating groups.
Gay Pride Week commemorates what many consider the birth of the gay rights
movement in the United States — the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.
The first night of rioting began shortly after midnight on June 27 when police
raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. A civil
disturbance ensued that lasted several days.
"It was not legal for gays to be in bars," said Jack Valinski, the executive
director of Pride Houston. Instead, gays congregated in unlicensed venues,
fearful of being discovered by the authorities. But after Stonewall, the
gay rights movement gathered momentum.
Valinski became involved with Pride Houston soon after his arrival in the city
in 1981. He said Houston has changed over the years.
"It's really a different town," he said. "This was a good ol' boys town
and had sort of a bubba image."
Much has changed, he said. The city now has two lesbian elected officials
with Controller Annise Parker and at-large Councilwoman Sue Lovell, and the
Houston Pride event has grown to become the largest of its kind in the
Southwest, Valinski said.
Saturday's events began in the early afternoon with the street festival.
Organizers Peter Chaivre and Richard Proto had been working since September,
marshalling more than 80 volunteers and 100 vendors.
"The parade has been going on for close to 30 years, but this is only the second
year of the festival, so we would like to see it get bigger," Chaivre said.
By early afternoon, he said, the festival was near its projected attendance of
5,000.
As with any party, preparations were hurried and harried the night before, Proto
said. But once the festival kicked off, "it's been going extremely well."
"This is really cool," he said, taking a moment from his organizational duties.
"It's together and the show goes on."
The event was about more than having fun. Away from the bands and noisy
booths, organizers set up a history exhibit displaying thousands of photos,
magazines and posters illustrating the community's struggle for acceptance.
Exhibits curator Larry Criscione said the recorded history stretches as far back
as ancient Greece. He estimated that the exhibit took more than 300 hours
to assemble.
Leaving the tent, Chris Hann said he was surprised to learn the depth of the gay
community's story.
"I didn't realize there were so many organizations that went that far back (in
time)," said Hann, in his 20s. "There were a lot of cool black-and-white
pictures in there."
Wearing a shirt that read "I (heart) my gay son," Penny Hann, Chris's mother,
said she too was impressed. "It was very informative. I'm so glad we
came."
zeke.minaya@chron.com
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