Pride in the Desert

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Pride in the Desert is the annual LGBTQ pride event for Tucson, Arizona.[1]

Similar to Phoenix Pride, Tucson does not hold a pride parade in the traditional month of June, due to high summer temperatures in Arizona.[2]

History[]

The history of gay pride events in Tucson began after the 1976 murder of Richard Heakin.[1] Heakin, who lived in Nebraska, visited a friend in Tucson and was beaten to death by four teenagers while exiting a bar named Stonewall Tavern.[3] The attackers were subsequently tried as juveniles, and sentenced to probation.[2] At the time, hate crimes are often not punished at all.[3] Heakin's murder became a motivation behind the foundation of Tucson Pride.[1]

The first Tucson pride event, organized by an organization named Tucson Gay Coalition, was named the Gay Pride Festival & Memorial Picnic. It happened at Himmel Park on June 26, 1977, also the National Gay Pride Day that year.[4]

In 1982, the Tucson Gay Pride Festival was cancelled amidst a statewide call to fight against LGBT discrimination and oppression, and the event was turned into a civil rights march from Tucson to Phoenix.[4]

Since 1994, pride in Tucson is held in October.[2] In 2018, the parade, which was traditionally scheduled to take place on a Friday evening before the festival, was rescheduled to daytime hours, due to concerns within the LGBTQ+ community that holding a parade during the evening hours sends a bad message, as if the community is hiding in the shadows.[5]

Over the years, Pride in the Desert has become a more family-centric theme.[2]

Pride in the Desert became a virtual event for 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event took place on October 24.[6]

External links[]

Tucson Pride

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "About Tucson Pride". Tucson Pride. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Cruz, Veronica M. (October 8, 2009). "Community forged by tragedy". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Cobian, Gabriella (October 6, 2020). "Tucson Pride, its history and its 2020 parade". Arizona Daily Wildcat. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "1969-1984 · LGBT History in Arizona". ASU Library. Arizona State University. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Wadding, Megan (September 22, 2018). "New Beginnings in Tucson". Echo Magazine (October 2018). Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  6. ^ Morales, Joshua (August 15, 2020). "Tucson Pride 2020 going virtual". KOLD-TV. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
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