Blog

Imagine waking up every day and living in a state of constant fear. Not because you are under any immediate threat of physical bodily harm, but instead, the fear of anyone finding out who you really are. Over the last 10 years, the LGBTQ fight for equality has made tremendous progress, which shouldn’t be taken for granted nor is the fight over.

For some historical perspective, I’ll be writing a three-part series about the struggles that once were and the reasons why it’s important to continue fighting for our right to exist. The first part begins with a well-known advocate in the Phoenix community, a Grand Canyon Sister of Perpetual Indulgence Sister Sur Mon Visage.

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Phoenix Pride unites, educates, and engages people to support and empower the LGBTQ community and our allies.

We recently asked the community to offer feedback on the question “What does pride mean to you?” The responses were overwhelming, and we appreciate all of you who responded to this request! We wanted to share a few that really stuck out to us:

“Pride to me means being able to be your authentic self, being proud of who you and standing up for yourself every time someone questions your pride. I’m proud of who I am because I’m a part of a unique community with the same struggle all fighting for the same goal Equality for all.”

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Phoenix Pride had an incredible and successful year. I’m extremely proud of the work we have accomplished in 2017. With the help of our dedicated Board of Directors, wonderful staff, committee managers and hundreds of volunteers, I am both humbled and grateful for our success.

Our organization is fiscally strong as we move into 2018 with a very robust strategic plan. We have the community’s support for the great work we do, evidenced by the highest attendance ever at the 2017 Phoenix Pride Festival and Parade, breaking the already substantial records set in previous years.

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“All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.”
– Harvey Milk, 1930-1978

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Everyone remembers their first.

First car, first kiss, first love.

But do you remember your first Pride Parade? Read More

2017: Over 37,000 people attended Phoenix Pride in April of this year; the largest attendance ever. Almost every Pride Celebration across the country had record numbers attending. We certainly have come a long way over that last few years to celebrate who we, without fear and with PRIDE. We as a community must cherish this freedom we have and cannot ever forget the road we all took to get here.

1989: This was the year Cleveland, Ohio celebrated for the first time and it was my first time at a Gay Pride Celebration. This type of gathering was new and somewhat strange to all of us. Just the thought of marching down a main street or even just watching from the sideline brought on emotions of stress and fear. Read More

I remember the first time I saw two men holding hands was back in the year 2001.  My family had taken us to visit my Uncle (also former Godfather) in Jersey City, NJ.  We went to New York City, NY to see times square, the statue of liberty and a few other tourist attractions.  It was around 8:30 pm on a Friday night when two men were walking down the street, smiling, laughing and holding hands.  The reaction from my parents was one of pure disgust.  My birth father nearly stopped breathing at that moment and my birth mother started to pray (I think that’s what you call her actions at that moment).  My brother, sister, and uncle didn’t even give it much attention at all.  My uncle, noticing the reaction from my parents looked at them and said, “at least when they hold hands they are happy.” Read More