Gay Flag

The gay parade has a very interesting history. It started off as a march in rememberance to gays who were discriminated against in New York City. It was more like a roit following a police raid of a gay bar-the Stonewall Inn.

The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee says thier mission is to educate the world, commemorate thier heritage, celebrate thier culture, and liberate thier people.

The Gay Flag was introduced at the 1978 San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade, andhas been adopted all over the world. The flag was designed by Gilbert Baker who was an artist and vexillographer. Each color has a different meaning. The original flag had 7 stripes of different colors, but then removed a stripe because they "ran out of dye". It then created a flag with an even number of stripes. Today, there are different versions of flag. Some flags have a black stripe added to it as a symbol to those lost to AIDS.

Here are the dates for major gay pride events around the world:
A
Albuquerque, NM (Albuquerque Pride 2008)June 13 - 14
Amsterdam, NL (Amsterdam Pride 2008) previous picsAug 1 - Aug 3
Anchorage, AK (Anchorage Pridefest 2008)June 20 - 29
Asbury Park, NJ (New Jersey Pride)June 1
Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Pride Festival 2008)July 4 - 6
Austin, TX (Austin Pride Parade 2008)June 14
Austin, TX (Austin Pride Festival)June 14
B
Baltimore, MD (Baltimore Pride 2008)June 21 - 22
Bangkok, Thailand (Bangkok Together 2008)Nov 1 - Nov 9
Barcelona, Spain (Barcelona Pride 2008)March 19 - 24
Bergen, Norway (Bergen Pride 200)TBA
Berlin, Germany (Christopher Street Day Berlin)June 28
Birmingham, AL (Central Alabama Pride 2008)May 30 - June 8
Boise, ID (Boise Idaho Pride)June 6 - 8
Boston, MA (Boston Pride 2008)June 6 - 15
Brussels, Belgium (Belgian Lesbian and Gay Pride 2008)May 17
C
Cardiff, Wales (Cardiff-Wales Lesbian and Gay Mardi Gras 2008)September 6
Carlsbad, CA (North County San Diego Pride)Aug 2
Cedar Rapids, IA (Cedar Rapids PrideFest 2008)June 22
Charlotte, NC (Pride Charlotte 2008)July 26
Chicago, IL (PRIDEChicago 2008)June 29
Cleveland, OH (Cleveland Pride 2008) previous picsJune 21
Cologne, Germany (ColognePride 2008)June 21 - July 6
Columbus, OH (Columbus Stonewall Pride 2008)June 28
Copenhagen, Denmark (Copenhagen Pride 2008)August 11 - 16
D
Dallas, TX (Dallas Pride 2008)Sept 21
Denver, CO (Denver Pridefest 2008)June 21 - 22
Detroit, MI (Motor City Pride)June 1
Dublin, Ireland (Dublin Pride 2008) previous picsJune 13 - 22
Durham/Raleigh, NC (North Carolina Pride 2008)TBA
E
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2008 Pride Week)June 13 - 22
El Paso, TX (El Paso Sun City Pride)June 5 - 8
EuroPride 08 (in Stockholm)July 25 - Aug 3
F
Flagstaff, AZ (Flagstaff Pride in the Pines 2008)June 20 - 22
Frankfurt, Germany (Christopher Street Day 2008)July 18 - 20
G
Gainesville, FL (Gainesville Pride 2008)TBA
Glasgow, Scotland (Glasgay! 2008 Festival)Oct 1 - Nov 9
H
Hamburg, Germany (Christopher Street Day Hamburg)TBA
Harrisburg, PA (Harrisburg PrideFest 2008)July 26
Hartford, CT (2008 Connecticut LGBTI Pride Festival)June 7
Houston, TX (Pride Houston)June 28
I
Iowa City, IA (Iowa City LGBT Pride)June 16
Indianapolis, IN (IndyPride!)June 13 - 15
J
Jackson, MS (OUToberfest)TBA
Jacksonville, FL (First Coast Pride)July 26 - Aug 26
Jersey City, NJ (Jersey City Pride 2008)Aug 23
K
Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Gay Pride)May 30 - June 1
L
Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas Pride)May 2 - 4
Lincoln, NE (Pride on the Prairie)June 20 - 22
Lisbon, Portugal (Lisbon Pride)TBA
London, England (Pride London)July 5
Long Beach, CA (Long Beach Pride)May 17 - 18
Los Angeles, CA (LA Pride)June 6 - 8
Louisville, KY (Kentuckiana Pride Festival)June 20
M
Madrid, Spain (Madrid Pride)July 3 - July 6
Manchester, England (Manchester Pride)Aug 15 - 25
Memphis, TN (Mid-South Pride)June 8 - 15
Mexico City, Mexico (Mexico City Pride)June 26 - 30
Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee PrideFest)June 6 - 8
Minneapolis, MN (Twin Cities Pride)June 28 - 29
Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Divers/Cite)July 27 - Aug 3
Moscow, Russia (Moscow Pride Festival)May 31
Munich, Germany (Christopher Street Day Muenchen)TBA
N
Nashville, TN (Nashville Pride Fest)June 1
New Haven, CT (Connecticut Pride)June 7
New Hope, PA (New Hope Celebrates)May 16 - 18 (Event Review)
New Jersey (GLBTI Pride Celebration)June 1
New Orleans, LA (Southern Decadence)Aug 27 - Sept 1
New York City, NY (Heritage of Pride) previous picsJune 22 - 29
O
Oklahoma City, OK (Oklahoma City Pride)June 20
Omaha, Nebraska (Nebraska Pride Parade)June 20 - 22
Orlando, FL (Come Out With Pride)Oct 12
Oslo, Norway (Nebraska Pride Parade)June 20 - 22
P
Palm Springs, CA (Greater Palm Springs Pride)November 1 - 2
Paris, France (Paris Pride)May 17 - June 5
Pattaya, Thailand (Pattaya Gay Festival)Dec 2
Philadelphia, PA (Philly Pride)June 8
Phoenix, AZ (Pheonix Pride) previous picsApril 12 - 13
Phuket, Thailand (Phuket Pride)TBA
Pittsburgh, PA (Pittsburgh Pride)June 16 - 22
Portland, OR (Portland Pride)June 14 - 15
Porto, Portugal (Porto Pride)July 12
Providence, RI (Rhode Island Pride)June 21
R
Rehoboth Beach, DE (Delaware Pride Festival)Sept 13
Reno, NV (Power of Pride)Aug 19
Reykjavik, Iceland (Reykjavik Pride)Aug 7 - 10
Roanoke, VA (Roanoke Pride)Sept 21 - 23
S
Salt Lake City, UT (Utah Pride)June 6 - 8
San Diego, CA (San Diego LGBT Pride)July 19 - 20
San Francisco, CA (San Francisco)June 28 - 29
Santa Fe, NM (Sante Fe Pride on the Plaza)TBA
Seattle, WA (Seattle Pride)June 28 - 29
Springdale, Utah (Zion National Park) (Southern Utah Pride)Sept 26 - 27
St. Louis, MO
zSB(3,3)
(Pride St. Louis)June 23- 24
Stockholm, Sweden (EuroPride 2008)July 25 - Aug 3
Syracuse, NY (CNY Pride)June 7
T
Toronto, Ont, Canada (Pride Toronto)June 20 - 29
Tucson, AZ (Tucson Pride)TBA
Tulsa, OK (Tulsa Pride)May 31 - June 14
V
Vancouver, BC, Canada (Vancouver Pride)Aug 3
W
Washington D.C (Capital Pride 2007)June 6 - 15
Wilmington, DE (Delaware Pride)Sept 13
Z
Zagreb, Croatia (Zagreb Pride 2007)TBA
Zurich, Switzerland (Verein Gay Pride)May 30 - June 8

http://gaylife.about.com/cs/4/a/gaypridedates.htm