Pride Parades

”[A]n important study.” (Bay Area Reporter) “Over the past three decades, Pride parades have become annual rituals for making LGBT identity visible in cities and towns across the United States. Scholars of social movements have fiercely debated the significance of cultural protest.In this meticulously researched and engagingly written book, Bruce sheds light on this debate by demonstrating that cultural protest can take place both alongside and apart from political activism.Pride parades culturally anchor LGBT communities through performances such as gay marching bands and choruses, drag shows, dyke parades, and queer weddings.But, as Bruces analysis reveals, they have had lasting impact by challenging cultural meanings and public attitudes toward LGBT people” - Verta Taylor,Co-author of Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret “LGBT pride parades are many things at oncecultural protests, solidarity parties, visibility tools, commercial opportunitiesand Pride Parades offers a useful tour through their complexities, impact, and pleasures.” - Joshua Gamson,author of Modern Families: Extraordinary Journeys to Kinship “Pride is at the heart of most social movements, and nothing embodies it better than a joyous public parade. This is a charming, stirring book, one of the best yet about the modern LGBT movement.” - James M. Jasper,author of Protest: A Cultural Introduction to Social Movements “Bruce not only provides an entertaining and informative history of gay pride parades which have become standard fare worldwide, but in doing so has employed a new and effective prism through which to view and explain the subtle and complicated aspects of the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in the US.” (Choice) “The account is extremely interesting. It is McFarland Bruces in-depth interviews with some of the first organizers, who detail their struggles to find the frameworks that would move public opinion and their efforts to undercut and destroy laws discriminating LGBT people that make the book fascinating.” (Mobilization)

Katherine McFarland Bruce is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.