Tucson celebrates gay pride | News | kvoa.com – KVOA Tucson News
TUCSON (KVOA) – Tucson Pride in the Park is back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
In Tucson, the pride movement began with the murder of a young gay man leaving Tucson’s Stonewall Tavern back in 1976.
The gay community rallied for change and formed the organization called Tucson Pride.
Now, nearly 50 years later, Tucson Pride is celebrating Pride in the Park. Some of the attendees said they never thought this was possible. “Absolutely, positively not. It’s amazing that in my lifetime we’ve come this far,” said Paula Noel. Duffy Intromasso said he did imagine it – he fought for it. “I’m from the east coast. I grew up in New York and we were fighting early.”
The festival had something for everyone but one thing drew nearly everyone.
“It makes me feel really proud that I’m not the only one,” said Sabrina Glenn. “It makes me feel like I can be myself around other people,” said Elizabeth Conklin.
There is a lot for the LGBTQ community to celebrate. “I’m married. Who knew that was possible? Right? right, I didn’t expect that to happen in my lifetime,”Intromasso said.
And at the same time, the community is also under fire. “Any time we’ve had a gain in history we’ve always had a backlash, said the Reverend Louis Mitchell.
The three day weekend kicked off Friday with a Gay Pride parade and ends tomorrow with a brunch at High Wire.