Connecticut Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project, Pride Parade, June 1989.

By Eve Galanis

Pride festivals in Connecticut are multigenerational LGBTQ+ public gatherings that express joy, claim space, and utilize visibility as a form of resistance. The gay-rights movement began with the Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969, which involved a series of demonstrations against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay-friendly bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. In Hartford, activist Foster Gunnison Jr. helped establish the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee and coordinated with the Kalos Society, Connecticut’s first activist gay group. Together, they attended the first Pride March in New York City in June 1970 to honor the anniversary of the rebellion (Martin B. Duberman, Stonewall (Dutton, 1993)). By 1982, Connecticut Pride evolved into the annual celebration it is today, uniting diverse, broad-minded communities for jubilation and advocacy. While modern Pride events are viewed as a time for rejoicing and revelry, the yearly celebration became, and remains, a tool for justice.

Kalos Society at the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, June 1970.

The roots of Connecticut Pride began with Episcopal priest Canon Clinton Jones. In the early 1960s, Jones was involved in research on homosexuality and gay counseling services when he was appointed to the Rehabilitation Committee for the Greater Hartford Council of Churches. More broadly, this group was concerned with addiction-related issues. At a time when homosexuality was regarded as a mental disorder, it is no coincidence Pride emerged from the group therapy setting. However, Jones believed matters of sexuality should be separate from pathologized behaviors. As a result, he established Project “H” along with Trinity College professor George Higgins and attorney Donald Cantor. By 1968, Project “H” evolved into the Kalos Society, an advocacy, psychological support, and social organization (Canon Clinton Jones Archives, George W. Henry Foundation, GLBTQ Archives, Elihu Burritt Library, Central Connecticut State University).

Despite local opposition spearheaded by petitioning residents and local Hartford authorities who attempted to block park permits, the Kalos Society helped organize the Connecticut Liberation Festival in 1971, the state’s first official Pride celebration. As described in their newsletter, The Griffin (1971), the weekend was lined up with activities focused on communal joy, followed by a Sunday march to the state capitol. While turnout was low, members were optimistic that this event was the “beginning of the long route to the full establishment of our espoused way of life.” In addition to organizing social events and political protests, members of the Kalos Society also met with state and local representatives to draft legislation to protect gay men and lesbians from employment discrimination. The following year, the June celebration lasted a week. It included activities like church services, fundraiser dinners, theatrical performances, a march to the capitol, and a bus trip to the third annual march in New York City. Then in 1973, the Connecticut General Assembly introduced the first gay-rights bill; while it did not pass until 1991, activists petitioned every year until its passage.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman speaks from the steps of the state capitol at an equality rally, June 11, 2017. image: Connecticut State Library

While there were undoubtedly Pride events throughout the 1970s, they were smaller in scale and there remains little to no documentation of them. Whatever had been organized slowly gained momentum throughout the decade, and by 1982, Pride became a yearly tradition in Connecticut. Members of the Greater Hartford Lesbian and Gay Task Force planned the first annual Gay Pride Festival to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Between 250 and 400 people attended the festivities on the Old State House lawn. The Task Force emphasized that a Connecticut festival was necessary because “only through our visibility would we be able to gain political clout and win civil rights for ourselves. We must do this in our backyards” (Richard Nelson, “Connecticut Pride Festivals Part 1 1970–2000,” furbirdsqueerly, June 23, 2022, furbirdsqueerly.wordpress.com/2022/06/23/connecticut-pride-festivals-part-1-1970-2000/). Not all people felt safe attending Pride festivals then, so some wore masks to hide their identity. There were also no housing or employment protections in the state, so visibility in the community was a risk to their livelihoods.

The efforts for broad community unity and legislative advocacy were crucial for survival as the HIV/AIDS epidemic began sweeping the nation. During these years, the Pride festivals at the Old State House and the state capitol highlighted AIDS research and safety awareness, featuring speakers who empowered and motivated attendees to hold onto hope. In the words of Alvin Novick, head of the AIDS Project New Haven, “If you agree to be oppressed, if you resign, if you cooperate, then it’s all over…. We shall overcome.” The 1988 Pride festival became a time of mourning as the community gathered to grieve the loss of Richard Riehl, a Wethersfield resident who was the victim of a gay hate crime, murdered by two teens earlier that year. Over 800 people attended the rally, reaffirming Pride as a method of resistance and community care (Metroline, June 1988).

By the 1990s, Pride had fully gathered steam, and thousands were attending celebrations throughout the state. At the 1991 Hartford festival, community leader Shawn Lang emceed the events, which featured many state organizations, including the Hartford Colts, Men of All Colors, and the Imperial Court of All Connecticut. Events that year also included a Human Rights Campaign–sponsored cocktail party to honor Joe Grabarz, two-term state representative from Bridgeport, who came out as gay and was instrumental in the passage of Public Act No. 91-58, the 1991 gay-rights bill, which prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation. The 1995 celebration, whose theme was “From Silence to Celebration,” marked the 15th anniversary of Pride in Connecticut. It grew into a significant, statewide event with over 1,500 attendees, including multiple after-parties such as a sober dance at the Hartford Community Center (Nelson, 2022). Each year, Pride gathered momentum, but grief continued to shroud events as so many members of the community perished from AIDS. On a positive note, a little over a decade after the first annual festival, fewer people hid from photographers. LBGTQ+ individuals were more comfortable being visible in public spaces, despite Governor John Rowland’s refusal to sign the Pride Proclamation in 1996. The proclamation, presented by the Connecticut Pride Committee, sought to declare a formal Pride month in Hartford and recognize the dignity of LGBTQ+ identities.

Grand Marshals Regina Dyton and Mucha Mucha Placer, Pride Parade, June 2001

Mucha Mucha Placer, the drag queen alter ego of psychologist Dr. Richard Stillson, mother of the House of Pleasure, and longtime host for many Hartford Pride events over the years, has been a cornerstone of Connecticut Pride. As chair of the Pride committee, Mucha Mucha believed that inclusion was essential in the community and invited It’s Time, Connecticut, a transgender civil rights group committed to advocacy, legislative fights, and protecting trans youth, to lead the parade procession in 1999. It’s Time, Connecticut, was formed by the mother of the transgender movement in the state, Jerimarie Liesegang (Nelson).

Pride celebrations in the 1990s also saw the emergence of corporate recognition and sponsorship. For example, Aetna’s Network of Gay and Lesbian Employees sponsored in-house programming and a cabaret open to the public. In the modern era, large corporate sponsors like Eversource, CVS, Nissan, Stanley Black & Decker, and Hartford HealthCare dominated the space and brought Pride into the mainstream.

The early 2000s marked a milestone victory as same-sex marriage was legally recognized in 2008 due to the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling in Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health. Connecticut became the second state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage, and federal precedent would eventually follow suit in 2015. Meanwhile, Pride events popped up throughout the state. Hartford hosted the state’s official Pride programming, but New Haven, Middletown, Bridgeport, and West Hartford also hosted major events.

CT Pride Guide Without Borders, June 1996. CCSU GLBTQ Archives.

The 2010s marked a period of significant growth in Pride attendance and programming, fostering greater diversity and cultural intersections. Hartford Pride was suspended from 2012 to 2014 due to a lack of funding but was revitalized in 2015 by Mayor Pedro Segarra and his husband Charlie Ortiz, in collaboration with Connecticut Latinos Achieving Rights and Opportunities. By the late 2010s, tens of thousands were participating in Pride events across the state as the enthusiasm spread to 40 towns and cities (Nelson).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all Pride events in 2020 were held virtually, and all in-person events were canceled. While the pandemic cast a sullen shadow over the festivities, the online platform allowed for a broader and more inclusive audience. Over 20 towns and cities participated in organizing on the Connecticut Pride Facebook page and shared videos about what Pride means to them. This change opened a wider dialogue about people with disabilities and their access to participation in Pride. By the following year, events largely returned to in-person formats, but virtual programming remained part of the event lineup. The 2020s also highlighted marginalized identities and transgender rights at the forefront of the debate. LGBTQ+ individuals in Connecticut reaffirmed Pride as a political protest and worked to maintain the momentum from previous generations to demand progress. Criticism also emerged regarding Pride’s corporate sponsors and whether their presence at the events represented an appropriation of queer aesthetics for profit and cultural relevance (Nelson).

Towns and cities will celebrate Pride in Connecticut this summer, offering events and activities from May to September. LGBTQ+ elders forged a path toward human rights by challenging prior definitions of “normal,” claiming public space, and defying oppressive ideologies. As a result, Connecticut became the site of some of the earliest gay and transgender freedom movements. The history of Pride in Connecticut shows how a combination of advocacy, unity, compassion, joy, and the refusal to be invisible in public spaces resulted in a more democratic and equitable place for LGBTQ+ people in society.

Eve Galanis is a social studies teacher and research historian in New Haven, Connecticut. She specializes in chronicling the state’s history of marginalized peoples and resistance movements that fought for justice.

Listen!

“Uncovering Connecticut’s LGBTQ History,” Grating the Nutmeg, gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com/119-uncovering-connecticuts-lgbtq-history

Learn More!

Historic Timeline of Connecticut’s LGBTQ Community, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, connecticutmuseum.org/exhibition/lgbtqtimeline/