ID Number: 9505
Maker: Peace Press; Christopher Street West; Tony Derosa
Technique: offset
Date Made: 1971
Place Made: United States: California, Los Angeles
Measurements: 57.2 cm x 44.4 cm; 22 1/2 in x 17 1/2 in
Main Subject: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ); Viet Nam War Era
Materials: paper (fiber product)
Digitized: Y

Full Text:
Christopher St. West The Gay Parade Sunday June 27 7P.M. Hollywood Blvd. Information and Participation: Christopher St. West/ P.O. Box 17669 Los Angeles, Ca. 90017 / (213) 484-1094 DEROSA [printed signature]

Acquisition Number: 1997-022

Notes:
Produced for the second Christopher Street West Parade held in Los Angeles.

Copyright Status:
Public domain.

Exhibition Annotation:
The first-ever Gay Pride Parade was held in Los Angeles on June 28, 1970 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City. The CSW parade was started by a number of Los Angeles gay activists, prominent among them Morris Kight, Reverend Troy Perry, and Bob Humphries. Although one of several gay pride parades that took place that day around the United States, this was the only "street closing" gay pride parade held in 1970—something emulated by the other parades the following year. After several troubled years (no parade was held in 1973), the CSW parade returned in 1974, and originated yet another feature of the modern gay pride movement by adding a festival to its annual event. There was always a tense relationship between CSW, the businesses on Hollywood Boulevard and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), so in 1979 the parade and festival were moved to the more friendly environs of Santa Monica Boulevard, in the soon-to-be-incorporated (1984) City of West Hollywood. CSW is now celebrated every June in West Hollywood, and involves an all-weekend festival. This poster was for the second Christopher Street West Parade held in Los Angeles. No offset printshop was willing to print this poster until organizers contacted Peace Press. A workers' collective founded by anti-Viet Nam War activists in 1967, Peace Press not only printed this poster, but were also enthusiastic about printing pamphlets about gay rights when arrested, drafted, etc.