Houston gay pride parade 2015
The 2015 Houston Pride Festival attracted 700,000 attendees, which set a new record. It is currently the most attended and largest gay pride event in Texas, the Southwest region of the United States, and the second largest Houston-organized event in the city behind Houston Rodeo. Owing partially to concerns over increasing congestion over the years in the nearby neighborhoods, and to accommodate a larger festival (held in the daytime before the parade itself), the 2015 parade was moved to downtown Houston. The route of the parade usually had been along Westheimer Road, from Dunlavy Street to Crocker Street.
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Until 2015, it took place in Houston's most gay-friendly neighborhood, Montrose. With the event after dark, the various units can be creatively illuminated. The necessary revision in a Houston parade ordinance to allow a nighttime parade was facilitated by then-Houston City Council member Annise Parker. The highlight of the event is the parade, which has been held in the evening after sunset since 1997. The festivities are held all day on the 4th Saturday of June. This event commemorates the 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.
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The festival takes place in June to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. The Houston Gay Pride Parade (or often called the Houston Pride Parade) is the major feature of a gay pride festival held annually since 1979.