< Previous | Next >

Pride in South Florida started as a protest and has grown as the political strength of the GLBT community grew. From the early activist marching along 21st Street Beach in 1972, to the hundreds marching in protest of the Save Our Children campaign in 1977, South Florida’s Pride celebrations have been rooted in Protest.

In the 70’s South Florida activists made national history in their fight against Anita Bryant and her crusade. Their efforts inspired and galvanized gays and lesbians across the country and prompted a national boycott of the orange juice industry. In the 80’s, AIDS challenged Pride to give visibility to a new issue. Pride assumed a responsibility to remind the city and the media of the lives being lost to AIDS.

In the 1990’s AIDS phobia fueled a growing fervor of religious extremism. “Ex-Gay” ministries claimed that Gays can change their sexual orientation through Jesus, in a controversial “Truth in Love” campaign. In 1998, more than 3000 South Floridians rallied to protest Reverend D. James Kennedy of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and his “hate campaign guised as Christian love.”

Currently, the State of Florida still provides challenges for the GLBT community.

From the “Defense of Marriage Act” debate to the fight for the right of Gays to adopt children, Pride is an opportunity to take a stand against oppression, and celebrate the strength and resolve of the GLBT community. In Pride, both celebration and protest are alive and evident, in South Florida and across America.

< Previous | Next >