There were no floats, no music, no boys in briefs. In an essay for The Village Voice, Fred Sargeant recounted his experience at the CSLD March: 'This was long before anyone had heard of a “Gay Pride March.” Back then, it took a new sense of audacity and courage to take that giant step into the streets of Midtown Manhattan. In 1970, a year after the Stonewall Inn rebellion thousands of LGBT New Yorkers gathered for the Christopher Street Liberation Day (CSLD) March along Sixth Avenue from Greenwich Village to Central Park, chanting, “Say it clear, say it loud! Gay is good, gay is proud!” The success of the CSLD March inspired local organizers across the United States and around the globe to start their own LGBT marches.Īt the 1973 CSLD march, transgender activist Sylvia Rivera called out transphobia in an epic speech, proving that transgender people have been part of our community's activism forever.
