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InterPride is one of few international LGBT entities in operation continuously since the 1980s. InterPride is incorporated in the State of Texas and has been granted Tax Exempt status as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Geared towards networking, education, and mentoring, the group boasts a membership of more than 200 Gay Pride organizations with worldwide representation from more than 10 countries, dedicated to LGBT Pride parades and other events.
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Formation of InterPride
In the spring of 1981, Pride Coordinators Rick Turner and Marsha H. Levine, from San Francisco and Boston respectively, met at "Call To Unite" – a gay and lesbian leadership conference in Los Angeles, and the start of an organization then known as NOLAG (National Organization of Lesbians and Gays). While discussing common issues that their individual Pride organizations faced, and remarking that their connections with the New York and Los Angeles Pride committees were helpful for problem-solving, Rick and Marsha felt this trading of information was important and could develop into a potential network.
Almost a year later, Levine sent out a call for the First Annual Conference of the National Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (NAL/GPC)*, to meet in Boston. With the aid of San Diego Gay Pride Committee and chairperson Doug Moore, who had been collecting a list of national Pride organizations, and with small donations from the Los Angeles and Boston Pride Committees, the mailing list from Moore was used to distribute a self-mailing registration form designed and produced by Levine. Though many committees expressed an interest in attending, most didn’t have the funds to send delegates at that time. (*Rick Turner [deceased] declined joining in establishing the organization, due to his declining health.)
Credit for starting InterPride is often speciously claimed by more than one person/organization. What is verifiable is that in October 1982, in the historic Hill House brownstone row house at 74 Joy Street on famous Beacon Hill, members from the Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco Pride committees gathered in response to Levine's mailing.
The meeting site was just down the street from the renowned Freedom Trail, and just steps away from Boston’s Pride parade route and rally site. Three long tables were pushed together to make a triangular seating area. For two days many topics concerning coordinating lesbian/gay pride was discussed, and while each city had different events, they discovered much of the planning and logistics was surprisingly similar. They voted to hold a second conference in San Diego the next year.
The 16 people in attendance at that first call were:
Boston - Marsha H. Levine
New York - Tony Gambino (and lover), Brian O'Dell, David Colle [deceased], Janet Love, Fred Goldhaber, R. Paul Martin
San Francisco - Konstantine Berlandt [deceased], Glenne McElhinney
Chicago - Rich Pfeiffer
San Diego - Doug Moore
Los Angeles - George Piazzi, Sharon Tobin (and lover, Cheryl), Sean Johnson [deceased]
History and Milestones
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| October 1985 | During the organization's conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with representatives of Toronto, Canada and Germany in attendance, the membership voted to officially change the organization's name from the National Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators, to the International Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (IAL/GPC). The organization also pledged to continue reaching out to other countries. |
| October 1997 | During the organization's conference in New York, its membership voted to establish the "WorldPride" title and awarded it to the city of Rome, Italy for the year 2000. |
| October 1999 | The first conference held outside North America was held in Glasgow, Scotland. |
| July 2000 | The first WorldPride was held in Rome, Italy, coinciding with the Great Jubilee. |
| October 2001 | The first conference held in the southern hemisphere was held in Auckland, New Zealand. |
| October 2003 | The first conference held in a city that did not use English as its primary language was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The conference itself was still conducted in English. During this conference, the second WorldPride title was awarded to the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. |
| October 2004 | The first conference held in a non-English speaking country was held in Reykjavik, Iceland. |
| May 2005 | The second WorldPride was postponed until August 2006, owing to the implementation of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan in Gaza.[1] |
| October 2005 | The 24th annual InterPride conference held in Minneapolis/ St Paul. |
| August 2006 | The second WorldPride took place, after over a year of delays, in Jerusalem, Israel. The scheduled parade was denied a permit owing to the 2006 Lebanon War.[2] |
| October 2006 | The 25th annual InterPride conference held in Portland, Maine. |
| October 2007 | The 26th annual InterPride conference held in Zurich, Switzerland. |
| October 2008 | The 27th annual InterPride conference held in Vancouver, Canada. www.interpride08.com |
| October 2009 | The 28th annual InterPride conference to be held in St Petersburg Florida. |
Conferences
During the last 25 years, Pride organizations from every continent have participated in InterPride's annual world conference.
The conference is held each year in a different city, with the location of upcoming conferences being voted on two years prior to their occurrence. To demonstrate a commitment to support and empower the global LGBT Pride community, the conference is now frequently held outside North America, with scholarships available for member organizations that cannot afford to attend.
The 2007 InterPride Conference was held in Zürich, Switzerland from October 11-14, 2007 [3].
The 2008 InterPride Conference was held October 23rd-26th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada [4].
The 2009 InterPride Conference will be held October 15th-18th in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States.
In addition, several of the regions into which InterPride is divided hold their own conferences independent of the worldwide conference [5].
Current Leadership
Presently, the Co-Presidents are Mark Chapman of CSD (Christopher Street Day) Zurich, Switzerland and Trisha Clymore of Atlanta Pride Committee, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
The Vice Presidents of Operations are:
Caryl Dolinko of Smart Cookie Consulting and Vancouver InterPride Conference Society, Canada
Doña Hatch of Human Rights Alliance-Pride on the Plaza, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
Billy Urich of Billy Urich, Hartford Connecticut, United States
Hans De Meyer of Brussels, Belgium
The Vice President of Member Services is Jeremiah Megowan of Eugene, Oregon, United States.
The Treasurer is Ross Chapman of Pride Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Secretary is Alan Reif of Heritage of Pride, New York City, NY, United States.
See also
References
Buchanan, Wyatt. "Broad Opposition to World Pride in Jerusalem", The San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2006. Accessed August 5, 2007.
"Jerusalem gay rights group delays WorldPride events due to Gaza withdrawal", The Advocate, May 17, 2005