Capital Pride
Pride 2009: June 5-14
History of Capital Pride and Introduction of the Community Partner Program
In the summer of 1975, a small gay pride celebration was held in Dupont Circle. The event was held in early May and featured such treats as a Fancypants Ball, a "gay-in," and an outdoor gay religious service in Rock Creek Park. The city's first official Gay Pride Day was held on June 22, 1975. Deacon Maccubbin, owner of the Lambda Rising bookstore, was the founder of Gay Pride Day. Lambda Rising sponsored Gay Pride for five years until the crowd surged beyond the borders of the four-block area centered on 20th and S Streets. Lambda Rising turned Gay Pride over to new organizers - Pride of Washington, Inc.- who moved the festivities to the P Street Beach and the grounds of Francis Junior High School. The event continued to evolve and mature, eventually including different stages for both local and national entertainment. The event also began to include affiliated events that took place during the days preceding the parade and fair. Pride of Washington, Inc. operated as a completely volunteer-run organization, managing the festival and funneling proceeds into area community organizations.
One In Ten, an LGBTQ cultural and arts organization, took over the management of the event in 1994 and introduced a number of dramatic changes. One In Ten moved the street fair to Freedom Plaza to allow for a larger stage for entertainment and a larger number of vendors and exhibitors.
Two years later, after an event that was washed out by torrential rains, One In Ten asked Whitman-Walker Clinic, one of the nation's largest LGBTQ service organizations, to take over the financials and management of the event. With the backing of Whitman-Walker Clinic, the event now has permanent offices, professional staff, and more access to fundraising and communications resources.
In 2007 and Whitman-Walker Clinic proposed the following changes for Capital Pride 2007 to maximize resources and visibility, :
- To partner with other LGBTQ non-profit organizations to produce the event so that this community event is truly produced by the community.
- To have the partners determine a pre-set budget for Pride. While this may alter some aspects of the event, it will allow for a more financially stable event.
- To increase the focus and spectrum of Capital Pride. As a health organization, Whitman-Walker Clinic only represents a small segment of issues facing the LGBTQ community. We would like to work with more LGBTQ organizations to ensure a broader message that meets the needs of more people.
- To more actively pursue corporate sponsorship dollars. Being the fourth largest gay pride festival in the country, we offer corporations a unique opportunity to engage in targeted marketing to 200,000 people.
- To examine additional revenue sources for the event such as merchandising, increasing ticket prices, charging admission to the festival, and creating a passport package that would allow access to all events.
- To begin promoting the event earlier and more creatively. We are also looking at ways that we can incorporate more aspects to increase the diversity so that all members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer community are represented.