Palm Springs Pride in 2018 falls right on the heels of another annual gay celebration, Halloween. Given the sizable LGBTQ population in Palm Springs and the attractiveness of the city to gay tourists, Palm Springs Pride is one of the largest annual events in town. Late June would not be a good time of year for an outdoor festival in Palm Springs, so Palm Springs Pride is held the first weekend in November when the temperatures are lower and street parties can last well into the evening. “Gay Pride” has often been truncated to “Pride” to be more inclusive of the entire LGBTQ community, and the demonstrations are more parade-like, with floats, music, dancers plus a festival featuring stages for performers and weekend-long events. Now many cities throughout the world host some version of Gay Pride most are in late June or in the summer months. Through the Anita Bryant and AIDS crisis years, there was a lot to demonstrate about. And originally, in New York and San Francisco in particular, the event was held in late June and was more of a march and demonstration than a parade and festival.
It used to be called Gay Pride, and it began as a commemoration of the June 28, 1969, Stonewall Rebellion in New York City.
