Banner: “A Brief History of GLBT Pride Parades in Ohio”

This webpage is a close approximation to but not an identical version of the set of two (33.5″ x 86″) color vinyl banners. Because of the formatting differences, we had to delete all digital images from this webpage but provided extended participant quotations to supplement for the visual loss.

1971 Columbus: Early City Response

Gay rights activists filed 18 applications to march on W. Broad St. to the Statehouse. Safety Director James Hughes and Police Lt. Donald Mayes rejected each application. The activists filed suit, claiming their right to free assembly had been denied. James Hughes and Donald Mayes justified their actions, saying “. . . a parade whose function was to unite homosexuals would constitute aiding and abetting the solicitation of an act of perversion, in violation of the law and against the interest of the community.” Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Martin refused to overrule Hughes and Mayes. Despite this decision, activists continued to apply. Seven months later, activists finally secured their parade permit.
The Columbus Dispatch (October 7, 1971)

1972 – 1973 Columbus and Cincinnati: First Parades

In May 1972, 250 people marched from OSU down High Street to the Statehouse. In April 1973, the Cincinnati Gay Community hosted the city’s first pride parade. 70 people marched with signs and banners from Washington Park through downtown Cincinnati to Fountain Square. A month later in Columbus, 150 people from across the state marched in the first regional pride parade.
Columbus Gay Activist (June 7, 1972 & April 18, 1973); Greater Cincinnati GLBT News (May 2003); email correspondence from P. K. Beiser, B. Beisner, M. X. Chanak, & J. Fogle

1981 & 1982 Columbus: Marching in Columbus in the Early 80s

In 1981, 200 people marched to commemorate the 1969 anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riot. In 1982, Craig Covey, founder of the Stonewall Union in Columbus, marched with 1,000 others in what was then called The Midwest Gay and Lesbian Freedom Parade. In 1985, Valerie Terringo, mayor of West Hollywood, in an address to the 3,000 marchers at the Columbus pride parade, remarked, “Little by little across the country, city by city, we’re going to get our rights.”
The Plain Dealer (July 1, 1985); The Columbus Dispatch (June 20, 1987 & June 24, 1991); Gay People’s Chronicle (February 4, 2005)

1987 Columbus: Hardwick at Rally

Michael Hardwick spoke at a Statehouse rally. In 1982, police arrested Hardwick in his Atlanta home for violating a Georgia sodomy law. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5—4 decision to uphold Hardwick’s conviction sparked immediate outrage and spurred many to gay rights activism.
The Columbus Dispatch (June 20, 1987)

1988 Columbus: Gay Group Seeks Probe of Spying

Sources told The Columbus Dispatch that officers from the organized crime bureau secretly took photos of participants at gay rallies held on the Statehouse lawn. Gay rights activist Jerry L. Bunge found the news especially disturbing. He remarked, “It now seems that the expensive police protection for which we’ve been paying hasn’t been protection at all; but surveillance.” Stonewall Union asked the Columbus City Council to initiate an independent investigation of police surveillance. When asked about surveillance at gay rallies, Police Chief Dwight D. Joseph responded, “It could have happened. In the public interest, we will from time to time go to public meetings where we have indications there may be problems. . . . I do not consider that spying. I consider that part of my job, and we will continue.”
The Columbus Dispatch (November 9, 1988)

1990 Cleveland: Gay Marchers parade for Civil Rights

Cleveland’s LGB Pride board hosted its first pride march.
The Plain Dealer (June 20, 1993) & Gay People’s Chronicle (February 4, 2005)

1990 Columbus: Parade Fees and the U.S. Supreme Court

Two years after its request for an investigation of undercover police surveillance, Stonewall Union argued that the city’s fee of $1202 for police services was unconstitutional. Stonewall Union appealed its case to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court let stand a ruling that the city’s parade fees did not violate free speech rights.
The Columbus Dispatch, October 8, 1991

1993 Cleveland: Fourth Annual Pride Parade Features ACT UP

Members of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) Cleveland lay down on Euclid Avenue to illustrate that one American died of AIDS every seven minutes in 1993. Marchers chanted “Gay rights now” and “Homophobia has got to go.” An activist held up a sign that read, “Homophobia is a social disease.”
The Plain Dealer (June 20, 1993)

1993 – 2004 Cincinnati: Issue 3 Dismays Pride Parade Organizers

In 1993, a majority of Cincinnati voters approved Issue 3, a charter amendment that prohibited the city from adopting laws to protect gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Issue 3, also known as Article XII, to stand. Dismayed by the passage of Issue 3, organizers did not schedule parades from 1996—1999. They did, however, continue to host an annual pride festival. In 2004, Cincinnati voters repealed Article XII.
The Cincinnati Enquirer (June 4, 2000 & November 3, 2004)

1995 Toledo

Toledo hosted pride parades from 1995—1998.
Gay People’s Chronicle (February 4, 2005)

1996 Cleveland

900 people marched in Cleveland’s seventh annual pride parade.
The Plain Dealer (June 14, 1996)

1997 & 1998 Akron

In October 1997, organizers hosted the first annual Out in Akron gay pride festival and National Coming Out Weekend. A year later, Matthew Shepard was on the minds of many Out in Akron festival participants.
Akron Beacon Journal (October 11, 1998)

1998 Cleveland

“This year we wanted to let people know that the concept of being proud and having pride in yourself, the community and your family is a powerful thing. We want people to believe in the power that pride can have to make you feel positive about yourself and the community.”
Bryanna Fish, Cleveland’s 1998 festival coordinator, in The Plain Dealer (June 26, 1998)

1999 Columbus: Rainbow Flag Burned at Pride Parade

In June 1999, the state allowed the rainbow flag to be flown from a Statehouse flag pole. This was the first time in Ohio and only the second time in the nation that a rainbow flag had been flown with official sanction at a state capitol. At the pride parade, Chuck Spingola climbed the pole and cut down the flag. He handed the flag to Toni Peters who set it on fire. Chuck Spingola felt that flying the rainbow flag at the Statehouse was “ . . . sanctioning sin and encouraging people to go to hell.” Spingola and Peters were convicted of criminal damaging. In response to this incident, a state board adopted a policy that says only U.S. and state of Ohio flags can be flown on state property, unless approved by the governor.
Outlook (July 8 – 21, 1999); The Toledo Blade (August 4, 1999); Gay People’s Chronicle (March 24, 2000)

2000 Cincinnati

In 2000, the Cincinnati GLBT Pride Parade Committee hosted the city’s first pride parade since 1995. “After Issue 3, we’ve been beaten down so bad that we need a morale boost. I hope this can help us come together as a community and move forward.”
Kelly Gorth, a 2000 parade organizer, in The Cincinnati Enquirer (June 4, 2000)

1986 – 2002 Dayton: First Parade

Dayton held its first annual pride celebration in 1986. In 2001, it hosted its first rally. In 2002, the Dayton Lesbian and Gay Center and local groups hosted the city’s first pride parade.
Dayton Daily News (March 18, 2002 & October 1, 2002)

2003 Cleveland: Fourteenth Annual Parade Before Lawrence v. Texas Ruling

On June 21st, 5,500 people participated in the parade. A few days later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6—3 that sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
The Plain Dealer (June 22, 2003) and The Cincinnati Post (June 30, 2003)

1973 Cincinnati – 2007 Columbus: Continued Growth of Pride Festivals and Parades

In 1973, 70 activists marched in Cincinnati. Thirty-four years later, there were 50 floats in the Columbus parade and 110,000 people in Bicentennial Park.
www.stonewallcolumbus.org (June 29, 2007)