Denver Pride Festival

The annual PrideFest Parade will take place in Civic Center Park at E. Broadway Ave. & Colfax, Denver, CO on June 16-17.

Denver PrideFest is considered one of the top 10 pride events in the country. It is organized by the community center of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Colorado, which number more than 250,000 people. The parade is a celebration and honoring of the gay culture and heritage involving plenty of music, entertainment, food and much, much more.

Since this parade and festival are widely known outside of Colorado, being the 3rd and the 7th largest in the U.S. respectively, the event draws a lot of people from out of state attracted by that special atmosphere in the city that elevates the mood.

What is a Pride Parade and what does it signify?

This event is dedicated to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender culture. Pride parades also act as a demonstration or a fight for legal rights, such as same-sex marriages. Most Pride events occur annually, and many take place in June in memory of the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969, which was a turning point in the modern social movement of LGBT people.

Gay pride refers to the world movement and philosophy that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT supporters are fighting for equal rights and benefits.

The movement has three main messages:

• people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity,

• sexual diversity is a gift,

• sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and can not be intentionally changed.

All the people in the world are different and celebrating those differences is a way to bring everyone together. Enjoy the Denver Pride festival!