Motor City Pride works to achieve this mission by producing the annual Motor City Pride Festival and Parade and through other community events throughout the year.
Pride grew out of the protest in the ’50s and ‘60s to today’s work to advocate for equal rights and protections for all Michiganders.
The annual festival allows individuals to connect with organizations, clubs, companies, and other individuals to learn about services and activities available for our community and agencies working to achieve full equality for LGBTQ individuals.
Pride is about celebrating the advances that we have achieved while working for full equality for all.
Motor City Pride traces its roots back to June 1972 when the first march was held downtown Detroit to protest the homophobic laws and to work for recognition for LGBT Rights and Equality. After holding the march for a few years, it expanded to include a picnic after the march which has grown into our current festival.
From 1986-1988, the civil rights march took place down Woodward Avenue followed by a rally at Kennedy Square. A party took place at the McGregor Center on the campus of Wayne State University following the rally, organized by a small number of dedicated Gay and Lesbian groups and volunteers.
In 1989, the Gay and Lesbian civil rights march was moved to the more central location of Lansing to attract statewide participation and political awareness as well as to celebrate the 20th anniversary of New York City’s Stonewall Riots, the beginning of the modern day movement of equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender citizens.
Metropolitan Detroit was left without a LGBT march, rally and party, so during this same year, the first official Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival was founded and chaired by Frank Colasonti, Jr. and sponsored by the Detroit Area Gay/Lesbian Council (DAGLC).
It began the tradition of being held on the first Sunday of June. That year the Pride Festival took place on the Dearborn Campus of the University of Michigan in the gymnasium. In 1990, the event’s name was officially changed to PrideFest, and was relocated to the Royal Oak campus of Oakland Community College.
In 1992, the new chairman Michael C. Lary broke away from DAGLC and created the independent organization South East Michigan Pride to continue the mission of bringing the GLBT community together. His leadership continued until 2001. During this time period the official name of PrideFest became PrideFest Celebration! In 2001, the PrideFest Celebration officially transferred to the Triangle Foundation as part of Triangle’s community outreach activities. In 2003, it was officially renamed Motor City Pride andmoved to downtown Ferndale. From 2002 to 2008 it was chaired by Fred Huebener and Jackie Anding, and coordinated by Kevin McAlpine, Development Director at the Triangle Foundation.
From 2009 to 2017, Motor City Pride was headed up by a core group of Triangle Foundation volunteers that formed the Motor City Pride Planning Committee. Triangle Foundation merged with Michigan Equality to form Equality Michigan; in 2012, Motor City Pride relocated to Hart Plaza in Detroit and expanded to two days with the return of a parade to the festival lineup of events. The festival grew to drawing over 35,000 participants and featuring over 200 performers. In 2017 Equality Michigan assisted Motor City Pride in founding its own 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization so the planning committee could concentrate on growing the festival and allowing Equality Michigan to focus on its core mission of victim services, education, and policy work. Since that time, the festival has grown to attract over 55,000 attendees.
In 2018, Motor City Pride became one of the first pride organizations to join the newly formed United States Association of Prides. In 2021, Motor City Pride made a strong return from the COVID-19 pandemic with a fall festival in September, a change from the traditional June festival. The festival parade highlighted LGBTQ+ healthcare workers, who marched to cheers of admiration and appreciation for their service during the pandemic.
In 2022, Motor City Pride Chairperson Dave Wait was honored as a Pride Month Game Changers honoree by Ilitch Sports and Entertainment.
Starting with his first volunteer shift in 2004, Wait’s role at the festival grew and he took on the role of chairperson in 2010. He saw himself as a behind the scenes activist who worked to provide spaces and activities for others so they can get involved in the movement.
In 2024, a new addition was added to the Festival coined the Health Village: a program that brought LGBTQ+ focused healthcare resources together in an intentional manner. The program area was created by Vendor Director Nikalas Manning, who had previously marched alongside fellow healthcare workers in the 2021 parade and saw the health village as an opportunity to
reaffirm Motor City Pride’s commitment to the health and safety of the community.
As we look now and into the future, we are more deeply committed to our mission than ever before, finding ways to navigate these challenging times and continue to support our community in ways that will make a meaningful difference.
Thank you for reading about the history of Motor City Pride. We hope you’ll join our call to action
and help us foster pride in and respect for the LGBTQ+ community. Here are some ways you can help:
On the night of June 27, 1969, the usual crowd gathered at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. New York Beverage Control Board agents and NYC police officers raided the bar to enforce an alcohol control law that was seldom imposed anywhere else in the city.
Raids on Gay establishments, however, were common at the time and were conducted regularly with little or no resistance. Fearful Gay patrons were often physically forced out of their gathering places, sometimes beaten, and arrested, with no just cause just for simply congregating.
On this historic night, Lesbians, Gay men and Drag Queens came together to fight back against police harassment for the first time. The crowd inside and outside of the bar erupted into violent resistance against the officers.
Word spread quickly about the confrontation and outraged crowds gathered on subsequent nights to protest the mistreatment historically inflicted on the Gay community. These protests came to be known as the Stonewall Rebellion, with the uprising serving as the catalyst for the modern political movement for Gay and Lesbian liberation.
Now, Gay and Lesbian Pride events are planned annually each June throughout North America to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and to continue the GLBT community struggle for equality.
