Queens Pride Parade Explained

The Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival
Frequency:Annually every first Sunday in June
Location:Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City. Parade on 37th Avenue from 89th Street to 75th Street; festival at 75th Street and 37th Road
Country:USA
Founder Name:Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez
Organised:Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee
Or Sponsors:-->

The Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival is the second oldest and second-largest pride parade in New York City.[1] [2] It is held annually in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights, located in the New York City borough of Queens. The parade was founded by Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ community in Queens and memorialize Jackson Heights resident Julio Rivera.[3] Queens also serves as the largest transgender hub in the Western hemisphere and is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.[4]

History

Two events spurred the LGTBQ community of Jackson Heights to host its annual pride march: the first was a hate crime; the second, the rejection of a multicultural curriculum by Queens Community School District 24.On July 2, 1990, Julio Rivera, a 29-year old gay Puerto Rican bartender, was murdered in the schoolyard of P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights. After a night of heavy drinking, three young white men (Erik Brown, Esat Bici, and Daniel Doyle) who were out hunting for "a drug dealer or a drug addict or a homo out cruising," lured Rivera into the schoolyard and punched, clubbed, hammered, and finally stabbed him to death.[5] In response to his murder, Rivera's relatives and friends mobilized New York City's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, holding a candlelight vigil at the site of the murder and putting pressure on the police department to find his killers.[6]

In 1992, Queens Community School District 24 rejected the Multicultural Children of the Rainbow Curriculum proposed by Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez of the New York City public school system. Children of the Rainbow was designed to teach children acceptance of New York City's diverse communities, but the president of District 24's board, Mary A. Cummins, called the guide "dangerously misleading lesbian/homosexual propaganda," using three among the hundreds of the recommended readings, Heather Has Two Mommies, Daddy's Roommate, and Gloria Goes to Gay Pride, as proof.[7] In response, Daniel Dromm, a public school teacher in District 24 Community proposed a family-friendly celebratory parade that would allow the Queens LGBTQ community to become visible. As he explained six years later, "I wanted people to know that lesbians and gay men were their family, friends, and neighbors."On June 6, 1993, the Inaugural Queens Lesbian and Gay Parade and Block Party Festival took place in Jackson Heights. Co-organized by Daniel Dromm and Cuban-born LGBTQ rights activist Maritza Martinez and backed by over a dozen LGBTQ groups, it became the first successful event to be organized in any New York City borough outside Manhattan. Around 1,000 people joined the march, which had thousands of onlookers. Grand Marshals for the parade included City Councilman Tom Duane, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, and activist Jeanne Manford.[8] A mostly local affair, the march included two separate moments of silence. At 1:25pm, the Grand Marshals of the parade called for moment of silence in front of P.S. 69 to memorialize Julio Rivera and all victims of lesbian/gay bashings. Then at 3:00pm, a second moment of silence was taken during the music festival to remember those who had died of AIDS.[9]

In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio became the first New York City mayor to serve as a Grand Marshal.[10]

Now an annual tradition, Queens Pride has attracted crowds of over 40,000 people, and is supported by politicians and sponsors such as the Queens Library, Uber, Go Magazine, Gaytravel.com, AIDS Center of Queens County, Gay City News, and Ibis Styles Hotels.[11]

One iconic Queens Pride participant was Ms. Colombia, who Daniel Dromm characterized as "a real Jackson Heights character." A profile from the arts organization Visual AIDS describes her as being a "colorful and beloved performance artist."[12] Born José Oswaldo Gómez, Ms. Colombia moved from Medellín to the United States in search for safety, as individuals who did not dress in gender specific ways were common targets for hate crimes in Colombia. After being diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s, Gómez determined to live "day by day," becoming Ms. Colombia, whose colorful dressing and parade-walking became a celebration of being alive.[13] On October 4, 2018, New York City officials mourned her passing.[14] [15]

Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee

The parade's organizer, the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee (Queens Pride), is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit volunteer organization founded in 1992 that coordinates LGBTQ pride events in Queens, New York. In addition to the annual Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival, Queens Pride fosters youth programming and a Winter Pride Dinner Dance.[16]

Grand Marshals of the Queens Pride March

1993

1994[17]

1995[18]

1996[19]

1997[20]

1998[21]

2000[22]

2001[23]

2010[24]

2015

2016[25]

2017[26]

2018[27]

2019[28]

2022[29]

2023[30]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Starting Point of First Queens Pride Parade. NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. en-US. March 28, 2019.
  2. Web site: Queens kicks off Pride Month with annual parade. QNS.com. June 7, 2018 . en-US. March 28, 2019.
  3. Martinez, Arianna. "Queer Cosmopolis: The Evolution of Jackson Heights." In Planning and LGBTQ Communities: The Need for Inclusive Spaces. Ed. Petra L. Doan. New York: Routledge, 2015.
  4. News: Queens, New York, Sightseeing . Christine Kim . Demand Media . USA Today . June 14, 2019.
  5. News: The Symbols Spawned by a Killing. Stanley. Alessandra. November 18, 1991. The New York Times. April 1, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  6. News: At Site of Gay Man's Murder, a Street Corner Acknowledges Its Past. Gonzalez. David. March 20, 2016. The New York Times. April 4, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  7. News: IDEAS & TRENDS; How a 'Rainbow Curriculum' Turned Into Fighting Words. Myers. Steven Lee. December 13, 1992. The New York Times. April 1, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  8. Stephen Petrus, "A Concise History of Queens LGBTQ Activism," in The Lavender Line:  Coming Out in Queens, Eds. Stephen Petrus and Soraya Ciego-Lemur (LaGuardia Community College/CUNY:  LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, 2018), 29-30.
  9. Gomez, Chris. "Fighting for Change." The Lavender Line: Coming Out in Queens. Eds. Stephen Petrus and Soraya Ciego-Lemur. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, 2018.
  10. Web site: PHOTOS: Jackson Heights celebrates 23rd annual Queens Pride Parade and Festival. QNS.com. June 8, 2015 . en-US. April 5, 2019.
  11. Web site: Sponsorship Package. Queens Pride. en-US. April 5, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190405210655/http://www.queenspride.org/sponsorship. April 5, 2019. dead.
  12. Web site: Visual AIDS Ms. Colombia . Visual AIDS . August 6, 2020.
  13. Web site: New York LGBTQ Icon Ms. Colombia Found Dead. October 5, 2018. out.com. en. April 30, 2019.
  14. Web site: Queens Honors LGBT Icon Ms. Colombia WNYC New York Public Radio, Podcasts, Live Streaming Radio, News. WNYC. en. April 30, 2019.
  15. News: Ms. Colombia Refused to Soften Her Queerness. She Paraded It.. Wortham. Jenna. December 27, 2018. The New York Times. April 30, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  16. Web site: Who We Are. Queens Pride. en-US. April 4, 2019. April 5, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190405210655/http://www.queenspride.org/whoweare. dead.
  17. "The 1994 Queens Pride Parade Grand Marshals."1994 Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 1994. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  18. "The 1995 Queens Pride Parade Grand Marshals." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 1995. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  19. "The 1996 Queens Pride Parade Marshals." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 1996. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  20. "The 1997 Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade Grand Marshals." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 1997. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  21. "The 1998 Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade Grand Marshals." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 1998. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  22. "Year 2000 Grand Marshals." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 2000. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  23. "Pride Parade Grand Marshals Announced." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 2001. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  24. "We Love a Parade: Jackson heights is Ready to Party." Queens Pride Guide. Queens Gay and Lesbians United, 2010. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. LaGuardia Community College.
  25. Web site: Grand marshals announced for Queens Pride Parade in Jackson Heights. QNS.com. June 2016 . en-US. April 5, 2019.
  26. Web site: Grand Marshals Announced For 2017 New York City Pride March NewNowNext. Avery May 4, 2017. Dan. www.newnownext.com. April 5, 2019.
  27. Web site: Queens kicks off Pride Month with annual parade. QNS.com. June 7, 2018 . en-US. April 4, 2019.
  28. Web site: Queens Pride Parade and Festival to Take Place June 2. May 31, 2019. Jackson Heights Post. en-US. July 9, 2019.
  29. Web site: Parry . Bill . May 23, 2022 . Queens Pride to celebrate its 30th anniversary in Jackson Heights next month – QNS.com . May 24, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220524183330/https://qns.com/2022/05/queens-pride-30th-anniversary-jackson-heights/ . May 24, 2022 . dead.
  30. Web site: New Queens Pride Parade Grand Marshals – Queens Pride . https://web.archive.org/web/20230603194705/https://newqueenspride.org/new-queens-pride-parade-grand-marshals/ . June 3, 2023 . June 3, 2023 . en-US.

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