The History of pride Worcester

One year after the famous Stonewall Uprising of June 28, 1969, parades commemorating the event took place in major cities throughout the United States: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco all held marches, usually with names like Christopher Street Liberation Day or Christopher Street West. Boston’s LGBTQ+ community marched a year later, in 1971. Pride celebrations soon became cornerstones of LGBTQ+ communities in the United States and throughout the world, announcing the presence of the community to the more and more people, encouraging self-acceptance, demanding equality, and allowing for the expression of identity in numerous forms.

The 1970’s: Beginnings

In June, 1975, the Worcester Telegram reported that “a film Saturday night and a parade Sunday will highlight the first ‘Gay Pride Week’ in Worcester.” The Metropolitan Community Church and the Worcester Homophile Organization (formerly known as the Worcester Gay Union) organized the parade, extending invitations to gay groups across New England, local social service agencies, supporters from Boston, Providence, and Connecticut, and “anyone who is sympathetic to oppressed minorities.” Approximately one hundred people marched from City Hall down Main Street to University Park, across from Clark University, bearing signs proclaiming Gay Pride, Gay Love, and Gay Power.

Present Day

Over fifty years after a few hundred gays and lesbians marched for Gay Pride in Worcester, the celebration has finally become a successful and well-established feature of Worcester life. Reflecting on the history of the Gay Pride, Peter Bacchiochi, former President of Worcester Pride from 2016 to 2018, concluded: “Pride has evolved from a protest march—‘we’re here and deserve to be recognized and have equal rights’—to a weeklong celebration of community.” Worcester's 2018 Pride Festival hosted over 25,000 attendees.

Credit: Worcester Historical Museum's LGBTQ+ Worcester FOR THE RECORD Catalog