Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los Angeles

First LGBTQ Pride Parade

On June 28, 1970 Los Angeles became the home to the first LGBTQ Pride Parade organized by Rev. Bob Humphries (founder of United States Mission), Morris Kight (founder of Gay Liberation Front) and Rev. Troy Perry (founder of Metropolitan Community Church). The parade came together after Morris Kight called Rev. Troy Perry and asked if he and Rev. Robert Humphries could meet with Kight to organize something that would honor the Stonewall Riot. They wanted to march in Los Angeles, but in the spirit of Hollywood they decided to hold a parade.

The organizers were met with a lot of resistance by the Los Angeles Police Commission who issued parade permits. The organizers applied for the permit under Rev. Troy Perry’s Metropolitan Community Church without specifying that it was a safe space for the LGBTQ community to practice their worship. After the Police Commission continually questioned Perry on what kind of church it was, he angrily explained that the church represented LA’s gay community. The commission stated that from a legal standpoint it would be “ill-advised for them to inconvenience people for a robbers or burglars, or homosexuals parade.” They required the organizers to pay for a $1 million dollar liability insurance policy and a cash bond for the damages that would be incurred to the surrounding businesses as a result of the rocks and bricks people would throw at the parade goers. Morris Kight suggested they reach out to the ACLU of Southern California. Attorney Herb Selwyn, who worked with the ACLU took the case on. He argued that the costly liability insurance required violated parade organizers’ rights. He took the case to the Los Angeles Superior Court where Judge Richard Schauer declared that homosexuals were also citizens and ordered the commission to drop the conditions they had placed on the parade permit.

The win in court was a joyous moment and allowed the parade to come to life. No violence erupted on the day of the parade; instead an estimated crowd of 2,000 people showed up as themselves and full of pride. By the following year, the parade had doubled in size.


Sources:


Colker, David. “Fighting for Our Right to Pride: How L.A.’s First Pride Parade Almost Didn’t Happen.” ACLU of Southern California, 1 June 2023, www.aclusocal.org/en/news/fighting-our-right-pride-how-las-first-pride-parade-almost-didnt-happen#:~:text=As%20we%20celebrate%20100%20years,Parade%20on%20June%2028%2C%201970. 

“Troy Perry’s Pride.” Advocate.Com, 18 May 2007, www.advocate.com/politics/commentary/2007/05/18/troy-perrys-pride. 

“World’s First Officially-Permitted LGBTQ Pride Parade.” World’s First Officially-Permitted LGBTQ Pride Parade, Los Angeles, California, www.laalmanac.com/history/hi720.php. Accessed 27 Oct. 2023. 

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