Event goers and participants preached Saturday about love and equality while donning rainbow flags as capes and dancing along to music blaring from oversized speakers. Elaborate parade floats, adorned with balloons, streamers and a plethora of rainbows, carried members of the LBBT community and it supports[sic] around downtown Orlando.

Come Out With Pride is both a nonprofit organization based in Orlando, Florida, that started in 2005, and an annual event that defines the regional LGBTQ community. Come Out With Pride transformed the Orlando Regional Pride Parade into one of the most well-attended Prides in the world, attracting each year large sponsors and big stars. It has created a warm and celebratory event that opens its arms to the world.

​The ORIGINS of Pride

The roots of Pride parades lie in the Gay Liberation Movement. After the Stonewall Riots in 1969, gay activists organized to gain equal rights and to promote their identities. Over the course of the next several decades, they developed the modern pride parade, transforming political protest into a celebration of LGBTQ communities. One of the earliest Pride parades in New York was described as:

Singing, chanting, clad in festive and arresting garbs, thousands of homosexuals and supporters of homosexuals’ rights marched through mid-Manhattan Sunday, past smiling policemen, wide-eyed tourists and blasé New Yorkers who passed it off with a live-and-let-live shrug.

-The Sacramento Bee, June 25, 1973

BEFORE COME OUT WITH PRIDE

Marchers from the Gay and Lesbian Parents Coalition International in the 1993 Orlando Pride Parade.

Orlando Pride began in 1991 when the Orlando Regional Pride organized a small rally for the community. This was met with great success. The parade became an annual highlight for the LGBTQ community in Orlando. Each year, the attendance increased. By 1994, The Orlando Sentinel claimed that the parade drew a crowd of 3,500. It received enough attention that Bill Clinton sent a letter, stating: “In this great country, founded on the principle that we are all created equal, you fulfill our nation’s charter by standing up for what you believe. Your work on behalf of the gay and lesbian pride movement is making a real difference in our struggle to create a world where everyone is free to make his or her own contribution to society.”

​​​Despite the crowds, the event remained mainly local. Most of the celebrities who participated in the festivities were from Orlando. In 1996, the Orange County supervisor of elections, Betty Carter, spoke and in 1994 Orange County commissioner Fran Pigone headlined the event. Most of the speakers advocated for involvement in local politics, such as voting in elections.

THE Early years of COME OUT WITH PRIDE

The Metropolitan Business Association (now The Pride Chamber), along with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Student Union at the University of Central Florida (GLBSU), organized Come Out With Pride in 2005. It was held on Sunday, October 9, near the Orange County Regional History Center and the Heritage Square Courtyard. The date was chosen to coincide with National Coming Out Day, which is October 11.

The following year, Come Out With Pride grew exponentially. The Orlando Sentinel estimated that 15,000 people attended the event, many attracted by the cooler fall weather. The event expanded to include an Expo Fair in Heritage Square, which appealed to LGBTQ advocates all around the country. Comedian Jim J Bullock headlined the event, and Disney and Universal entered floats into the Parade. As one attendee said to reporter, Kirk Hartlage, it was “off the frickin’ charts!”

The event program for 2007, which was the first time the parade was held at Lake Eola. Sponsors included Bright House (now Spectrum), Universal Orlando, and Coors Light.

​In 2007 Come Out with Pride moved to Lake Eola. The move attracted larger sponsors, including groups that serve both the LGBTQ community and straight allies. With more money and national promotion, hundreds of thousands began to flock to Orlando ever year and the event secured increasingly noteworthy performers and celebrities.

Jennifer Holiday, a popular Broadway singer, has performed at Come Out With Pride multiple times. As former event producer Debbie Simmons recalled of Holiday, “The performance she gave was awesome. . . . More important was what she said. She talked about how important love was and what the gay community had meant to her. I could sense what the event meant to the community. This is what they had been longing for. We were focused on the inclusion of all. She got that across.”

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MAPPING Growth

As the number of sponsors increased, the size of the event grew. This is evident in the maps created by Come Out With Pride for attendees. What differences do you see in each of the annual maps below?

From Local to Global

Despite the presence of more global LGBTQ celebrities, Come Out With Pride continues to emphasize the Orlando community, which is at the heart of the event. Local celebrities, performers, and clubs always take center stage during the celebration. As former Come Out With Pride Michael Audebert said in 2013, "Our community is a wonderful collage that needed to be represented through our weeklong celebration."

Come Out With Pride continues to grow each year. The Orlando Sentinel predicted that 200,000 people would attend the 2019 event. Also that year, the organization submitted a bid to host World Pride in 2026. Given their history of turning a small event for local audiences into a large, multi-day celebration that attracts international audiences, Come Out with Pride is well-positioned to bring World Pride to Orlando.

This exhibition was organized by Rollins College student Margaret Stewart as part of the course History of American Sexuality. Learn More About the Partnership 

Ryan Gillespie, “Orlando nonprofit submits bid to host 2026 World Pride,” Orlando Sentinel, January 29, 2019.