•Paul S. Howell/Chronicle

Lighting the night with prideMembers of Parents, Friends and Families of Les-bians and Gays march in Saturday night's Hous-ton Gay and Lesbian Pride parade. Thousands ofpeople lined the Montrose-area route to watchmore than 100 lighted and brightly decorated en-

tries in the parade, whose theme was "GlowingWith Pride." From Paris to Mexico City, homosexu-als and their supporters commemorated riots inNew York in 1969 that galvanized the gay rightsmovement: Metropolitan, Page 33A.

Franki Lee Love97 Ms. Montrose,Linda Owens, andBarbara Walker Ms.Gay Pride 97 'PWA Coalition at

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Shining turnout

Matt Mitchell, left, of Omega House, an AIDS hospice,marches in the Gay and Lesbian Pride Parade in Mon-

By STEVE BREWERHouston Chronicle

Floats adorned with blinking lights,flashlight-toting and neon-bracelet-wearing matchers and shimmering se-quins on the gowns of drag queens litup Montrose Saturday night as the gaycommunity celebrated in colorful fash-ion at the Houston Gay and LesbianPride parade.

The bright procession of about 100floats - more than half of them illumi-nated with all forms of lighting -made its way down lower Westheimerand through the heart of Montrose.About 50,000people were expected toattend, 20,000more than last year.

It was the first time in the event'shistory that it was held in the evening,and the dark skies and cooler weatherfostered a party atmosphere that pa-rade organizers said was good for at-tendance.

"The energy of this crowd is phe-nomenal," said Darren Armstrong, oneof the co-chairs for the Pride Commit-tee of Houston. "There's been no otherparade like it in the past."

The side streets in the area werejammed with parked cars as parade-goers made their way to the event.Cheering and enthusiastic onlookers

Paul S. Howell / Chronicle

trose Saturday night. Looking on at right is Gary Jarvisdressed as the Statue of Liberty.

lined the route. AHouston police pres-ence could be felt, but the mood re-mained light despite a smattering ofvocal anti-gay protesters.

Susan Guerrero, a Pride Committeeco-chair, said members of gay commu-nities from Washington, D.C., SanFrancisco, New Orleans, Dallas, Aus-tin and San Antonio were in Houstonto enjoy the event.

One of the visitors was Julian Harris- "Mr. Gay Pride 1997" from FortWorth. He said the Houston displaywas impressive and that he liked theidea of having the event at night.

"I think it's wonderful, and I thinkthe night gives it the right mood," Har-ris said

The half-mile parade caps the endof Gay Pride Week, a lO-day celebra-tion that included 31 events. The pa-rade, with the theme of "Glowing WithPride," came on the heels of similarcelebrations Saturday in Europe. GayPride Week events are occurring in cit-ies throughout the weekend. NewYork, San Francisco and Toronto hadparades scheduled for today.

"I feel like Cinderella at the DisneyWorld parade, all lit up for the ball,"said a large smiling man decked outin a sequined party dress who calledhimself Stella. "I'm ready for it."

The decision to hold the parade atnight has breathed new life into theevent, parade participants said.

"There's a whole lot more enthusi-asm because it's at night. It's some-thing new and different," said KatyCaldwell, executive director of theMontrose Clinic, which had a float inthe procession. "This (the parade)brings unity to the community andmakes everyone feel proud."

Caldwell said that, to her, the paradenot only is an expression of pride, butalso a reason to celebrate the gay com-munity's fight against HIV and AIDS.

"It makes everyone aware of whatour community has accomplished,"Caldwell said. "This community pulledtogether, and we're taking care of ourown.", Andy Weber, a Montrose resident,watching the floats line up, said thenighttime event also allowed HIV andAIDS patients to come out and enjoythe parade without having to face theheat of the day.

But the agreeable climate didn't cool

See PARADE on Page 41A.

Montrose 'Glowing with Pride'Gay parade hasfirst night event

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some tempers at the parade.Behind a police barricade, holding

signs decorated with slurs andtaunts, were 40 protesters from twodifferent churches who jeered andshouted insults at parade partici-pants. One group of about 30 camefrom Heritage Baptist Church inMount Enterprise, near Nacogdo-ches, and the other 10 came fromGrace Baptist Church in Houston.

"We're out here to say that theyshould still be in the closet and notout here parading around," said Pas-tor Aubrey Vaughan, of the Houstonchurch.' "We're trying to send a mes-sage to the city of Houston that we

should not be condoning the sodomy--and the disease."

Pastor W.N. Qtwell, from the Mt.'JPleasant Church, agreed and said his vtgroup thought AIDS was God's judg- AI.,

ment on the nation. .~'i(J.

But aside from the occasional ver-'~bal jab, the parade participants paid~~little mind to the protesters and even ,:~supported their right to express their-s t

views. sl. ?,

"It just makes everyone all the '''I 'more proud," Weber said as he eyed ,r\.

the protesters. "But if they want to "'?protest, why don't they go to the"neighborhoods where they live in-"~stead of coming to an area where (hO-I;;mosexuality) is accepted? We're all ''\smiling, and they have frowns on ,jtheir faces, but everyone has a right Ato sa)' what they want to say." .•1

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Night Parade Drawslargest Crowd in Historv

Gay and lesbian pride was evident through-out the parade and after at many of thenightclubs and at OutRage, the official PrideParade after party. Many of the spectatorswere from out of town and it is estimatedthat the event added more than $2 million tothe cities coffers.

Last week's 'Glowing With Pride' Paradedrew the largest gathering of spectators inthe history of gay pride parade's in theBayou City. This years parade saw some ofthe most imaginative floats in years.Thousands of people - gay and straight -lined up Westheimer on both side of thestreet to view the elaborate spectacle.

According to Robin Duncan, this year'sawards went to Outsmart (Glowing Award);Garden Party (Spirit); PFLAG (Stonewall);Cheer Dallas (Gypsy); AVES (Edison);Community Gospel (Rainbow); TexasCommerce Bank (Ruby); Astro Rainbow(Houston); and Outrage2 (Texas).

The parade had more than 100 entries.

3 • THE TEXAS TRIANGLE • JULY 3, 1997 TOP 5

Houston was "Glowing With Pride" last week as they celebrated gay pride in theirfirst ever nighttime parade. The event was a huge success.

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