Cincinnati Pride 2014

Cincinnati, OH

The parade will run the following route: Staging/starting area at 7th St & Culvert St, from there parade participants will travel west on 7th St, turn south (left) on Vine St, turn east (left) on 5th at Fountain Square, turn south (right) at Walnut St, turn east (left) at Freedom Way, turn south (right) on Joe Nuxhall Way (Main St) at Great American Ball Park, turn east (left) on Mehring Way.

Walkers (no vehicle entries) will go into Yeatman’s Cove and enter Sawyer Point under the arches of the Purple People Bridge.
Vehicles will stay on Mehring Way to Pete Rose Way and continue to their designated location.

Cincinnati Pride 2014

It was the spring of 1973 in Cincinnati. The Reds were starting the season that would see them finish first place in the National League West with a 99-63 record; TV’s “The Brady Bunch” had filmed their annual vacation episode at the newly opened Kings Island in Mason and a group of GLBT men and women gathered on Fountain Square to march for gay rights awareness. This was all happening as the modern gay rights movement was in its early stages; growing out of the protest momentum in the wake of a raid of The Stonewall, a club in New York City in 1969.

Standing up for what you believe in takes courage. Now consider this was the early 1970s, when Cincinnati, always known for its conservative ways and old world sensitivities, was not exactly on the top of the list of locations to emerge as a leader in bringing the gay rights movement out into the open. So this gathering of some 40 men and women in the center of Cincinnati’s Fountain Square was the purest form of bravery.

Cincinnati Pride was born. We come together annually  to celebrate  the first public pride celebration in Greater Cincinnati held in April 6 – 8, 1973.

From that first march and celebration, Cincinnati Pride has grown to include a week-long celebration of our GLBT diversity. Over the years, Cincinnati Pride has taken on several forms and names as a dedicated group of individuals and local GLBT organizations would take part in shaping its growth. There were tough times along the way and our local pride efforts would mirror those struggles seen across the nation and the world as we stood for acceptance and equality. The movement would face challenges from HIV, AIDS to marriage equality and “don’t ask, don’t tell” along the way.

By the late 1980s Cincinnati’s Pride movement had grown steadily and so had its presence in the Tri-State. Parades grew longer and the crowds at our festivals grew bigger. As the 1990s passed and a new century approached, the world saw an explosion of GLBT awareness and acceptance and so, more of us began to stand up and come out.

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