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Calendars (and hotels) will be filling up as Dallas, Texas, celebrates gay pride in the month of September. An essential kingpin of the month is the Alan Ross Freedom Parade and Festival on Sunday, September 20. You can find the complete schedule at the website of the Dallas Tavern Guild.
While most states hold their pride parade in June in commemoration of the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York, Dallas has its major pride parade in September to commemorate the 1983 decision by Judge Barefoot Sanders which negated the Texas sodomy law. The parade remained a fall event even though Judge Sanders' decision was later overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (all remaining sodomy laws have since been struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas, June 2003). In 1991, the parade was renamed from the Texas Freedom Parade to the Alan Ross Freedom Parade, after the guild’s then-executive director. Alan Ross passed away in 1995.
About mid-September through mid-October, gay and ethnic pride is celebrated by Dallas LGBT Latino/a organization, Valiente, during Hispanic Heritage Month. In addition, the first weekend of October sees more gay and ethnic pride as two Dallas organizations this year serve up Black Pride weekend. The newest arts & community collective is DFW Pride Movement, and Dallas Southern Pride will remain a collective of local organizations providing various evening and late night events complementing this year's DFW Pride Movement activities. In fact, yours truly will hold an unoffical pride event on September 19th (the evening before the parade) at Jack’s Backyard in Oak Cliff with very special musical guest, Tim Dillinger.
Some individuals in the Dallas gay community may view the multiplicity of events as redundant or even separatist, in light of the political battles waged against all gay people. However, I would argue that making such a statement is to deny the diversity of the Dallas gay community and the opportunities to attract allies from across the metroplex.. In fact, if you are an individual that seeks a better understanding of these different pride events, I would suggest for you to make personal plans to attend these events in addition to the Alan Ross Freedom Parade and Festival. It may make you even more proud of your community, as well as fuel your activism.
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