Boston Pride Celebrates 45th Anniversary
From June 5th through June 14th, Boston Pride hosted a series of engaging events and activities that brought people together from all walks of life to celebrate and promote diversity and civil rights for the LGBTQ community. This year, Boston Pride commemorated its 45th Anniversary with the theme #WickedProud, a representation of the diverse community that makes up the Boston Pride organization, whether they are LGBTQ or straight friends and allies. With more than 50 events held over ten days, the 2015 Pride Week was the largest public event held in New England to date.
Boston Pride kicked off Pride Week 2015 on June 5 with an annual flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, which included the raising of the Rainbow Flag and which recognized this year’s Grand Marshals Erica Kay-Webster, David Bermudez and Samuel Brinton, as well as Parade Marshals Woody Glenn and Ellyn Ruthstrom, and Parade Honorary Marshal the late Mayor Thomas M. Menino and his family. The festivities continued that evening with Boston Pride’s first annual Pride gala, which honored longtime Boston Pride supporter and LGBT advocate Harry Collings with the Mayor Thomas M. Menino Pride Award.
Pride Day @ Faneuil Hall took place on June 6, and featured a full day of family fun and entertainment, including Zumba classes, drag queens, a Karaoke contest, musical and dance performances, 13-year-old singer Mia Shahood, Pageant Chair Miss and Mr. Boston Pride 2015, entertainer Nikita le Femme, and a special appearance by Top-5 finisher in NBC’s The Voice Kristen Merlin.
Boston Pride Week culminated with a weekend filled with Pride-inspired events including the third annual Pride Night @ Fenway Park, the Boston Pride Parade and Festival, and block parties in the Back Bay and in Jamaica Plain. The Boston Pride Festival and Parade on Saturday, June 13 – the main attraction of Pride Week – consisted of over 35,000 marchers and more than 240 contingents. About 500,000 spectators watched the Parade throughout the city and roughly 125,000 people attended the festival and free concert that followed. Conversations about Boston Pride Week reached over 14 million people on social media.
After their most successful Boston Pride Week yet, the LGBTQ community and its allies took a huge step forward nationally, when the Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states this past Friday. LGBTQ organizations across the country celebrated all weekend long, including many right here in Boston. Boston Pride’s President, Sylvain Bruni, remarked on how proud and historic of a time this is, especially for Massachusetts. “Massachusetts is-and always has been-at the forefront, illustrating that marriage equality works,” he said. “I hope that now we can stop talking about gay marriage and just talk about marriage.”
More information and details for Boston Pride’s Pride Week 2015 can be found at www.bostonpride.org.
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