Activism in the Archives Main Menu Introduction Women's Liberation and Lesbian Feminism Activism from the 1960s to 1980s The AIDS Epidemic in Los Angeles ACT UP/LA and the Mary Lucey and Nancy MacNeil Collection Archival Silences Asking for your stories Media Gallery The June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives thanks the County of Los Angeles 3rd District for supporting this program and exhibit.

Pride as Protest

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We all know the first pride march was a riot. Here are some photos and materials related to pride marches in the collection.

West Hollywood Pride in the 1980s








Los Angeles Pride 1992

The Dyke March, 1993



Lesbian Rights Day

Los Angeles Pride 1994


San Diego Pride 1996

In 1996 the Pride festival in San Diego was held in late July and focused on protesting the Republican National Convention that would be held there in early August. Voters Organized In Coalition for the Elections (VOICES) held a voter registration drive and marched in the parade. San Diego Pride also launched a Rainbow Flag Campaign to show San Diego’s strong LGBTQ presence to RNC attendees. Protests were held to disrupt the convention in addition to the usual celebratory parade and festival.[1]
Die-ins were used by ACT UP activists to remind people of the bodies affected by HIV and AIDS when these deaths were largely being ignored by the media. It brought a physicality and gravity to these silent actions that grew out of a legacy of sit-ins, activists chaining themselves to buildings, and disrupting public and private infrastructure.[2] This die-in was held at San Diego Pride festival in 1996, and while it is not silent (one person holds a megaphone in the center right) it sends a message by disrupting space.

Citations
[1] “1996: ‘Spotlight on Freedom’ – OUT on the Left Coast,” January 25, 1996, https://sdpride.sdsu.edu/1996-spotlight-on-freedom/.
[2] David Montalvo, “How AIDS Activists Used ‘Die-Ins’ to Demand Attention to the Growing Epidemic,” HISTORY, June 2, 2021, https://www.history.com/news/aids-activism-protests-act-up-die-ins.

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  1. ACT UP/LA and the Mary Lucey and Nancy MacNeil Collection Bonnie Morris/Julia Tanenbaum/Angela Brinskele

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