At Fair Park, they have easy access to the events and utilized our ADA areas, specifically for them. They also found it difficult to navigate the uneven sidewalks on Cedar Springs and massive amounts of people crowding those sidewalks. Many of our disabled LGBTQ+ community members wouldn’t come to the parade and enjoy it with everyone for lack of parking, specifically ADA parking. There are some benefits to Fair Park, much more room to grow, far more parking and accessibility, especially for those with disabilities, and many other benefits. Changes in the permitting process and requirements for large scale events from the Office of Special Events also lead to the decision. What ultimately happened, the City of Dallas had to go back and redraw the plans mid 2019 and construction didn’t start until early 2020, on a smaller than planned scale. With the scope of work originally planned, there was no way to have the parade on Cedar Springs, the city would not have issued a permit for us. We were told numerous times that construction was intended to start in January of 2019 and possibly be done in fall of 2019, but that there was no guarantee. We met with the City of Dallas in Fall of 2018 to discuss the planned construction and beautification. The first and leading factor was construction on Cedar Springs. There were several factors that lead to the decision to move the Parade to Fair Park. The spirit of Pride and celebration shine through each year as organizers prepare for the annual Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade. In 2019, the Parade and the Festival both moved to Fair Park. This time it was the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s ruling legalizing same-sex marriage that set gay lesbian feet to dancing down the parade route. Texas that declared the Texas sodomy law unconstitutional, once and for all. Supreme Court ruling in the case of Lawrence v. LGBT Texans and their counterparts around the country were riding high to the wake of the U.S. In 2003, however, an atmosphere of joyous celebration returned. But organizers decided to go ahead, choosing to leave empty the carriage that usually transported grand marshals, except for a sign reading, “Dedicated to the victims lost in the 9-11 tragedy.” There was talk of canceling the parade that year. The 2001 parade was one of the most somber in the event’s history, coming less than two weeks after the terrorist attacks of Sept. In 2002, Laura Miller became the first sitting Dallas mayor to participate in the parade. As more politicians came out as gay – and as more non-gay politicians began to realize the power of the LGBT voting bloc – elected officials and candidates began to make appearances, as well. In 1994, Dallas Police Chief Ben Click became the city’s first top law enforcement official to speak a the rally following the parade. Ross, who had been grand marshal alongside Lory Masters in 1988, died in 1995. That was the year that the Texas Freedom Parade became the Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade. In 1991, Dallas Tavern Guild officers dedicated to honor Alan Ross, the tavern guild’s executive director and the man who – since the early days – had shouldered the lion’s share of the responsibilities of organizing the parade. His death focused and unprecedented national spotlight on AIDS and spurring the Tavern Guild to begin dedicating the parade each year to those Tavern Guild members who had died of AIDS during the preceding 12 months. 2 – actor Rock Hudson died, shortly after coming out as a gay man and as a person with AIDS. Just weeks after the parade in 1983 – on Oct. The first grand marshals were Rita Mae Brown and Howie Daire.
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The Tavern Guild first began presenting awards to outstanding parade entries in 1985 and instituted the policy of choosing grand marshals. The judge’s decision was overturned later by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the parade remained a fall event in Dallas. Buchmeyer’s ruling that first negated the Texas sodomy law. In 1983, the Tavern Guild moved the parade from the usual June date to the third Sunday in September and renamed it the Texas Freedom Parade to commemorate Judge Jerry L. In 1982, however, the newly-established Dallas Tavern Guild took over, and the parade began to grow. But still, the next one didn’t happen until 1980.Īt first, the Parade was rather haphazard, spearheaded by ad hoc committees of Oak Lawn merchants and community leaders. The first parade made news when it happened.