International Association of Pride Organizers | |
 | |
| Founded | October 1982 (1982-10) |
|---|---|
| Founders |
|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Focus | Organizations producing LGBT pride parades |
Region served | Global |
| Method | Capacity building, networking, sharing knowledge |
| Website | https://www.interpride.org/ |
Formerly called |
|
InterPride is the international organization that brings together Pride organizers from across the World to network, share knowledge, and maximize impact. To this end, Pride organizers design InterPride's structure, programs, and initiatives, to better support them at the local, regional, and global levels. InterPride also owns the label WorldPride, which the membership licenses to a member organization through a direct vote.
History
InterPride was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Texas in the 1980s. The organization was originally known as the National Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (NAL/GPC), before changing the name to International Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (IAL/GPC) in October 1985, the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Coordinators at the conference in West Hollywood, California, and eventually to InterPride in the late 1990s.1
Formation of InterPride
In April 1981, Pride Coordinators Rick Turner and Marsha H. Levine, from San Francisco and Boston respectively, met at a "call to unite" for a gay and lesbian leadership conference in Los Angeles, to start an organization then known as NOLAG (National Organization of Lesbians and Gays). While discussing common issues that their individual Pride organizations faced, and remarking that their connections with the New York Pride and Los Angeles Pride committees were helpful for problem-solving, Rick and Marsha felt this trading of information was important and could develop into a potential network.
More than a year later in August 1982, Levine sent out a call for the First Annual Conference of the National Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (NAL/GPC), to meet in Boston. Rick Turner (now deceased) declined joining in establishing the organization, due to his deteriorating health. With the aid of San Diego Pride Committee chairperson Doug Moore, who had been collecting a list of national pride organizations, and with small donations from the Los Angeles and Boston Pride Committees, the mailing list from Moore was used to distribute a self-mailing registration form designed and produced by Levine. Though many committees expressed an interest in attending, most didn't have the funds to send delegates at that time.1
On October 9, 1982, in Hill House on Beacon Hill, members from the Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco Pride committees gathered in response to Levine's mailing. Three long tables were pushed together to make a triangular seating area. For two days many topics concerning coordinating LGBT prides was discussed, and while each city had different events, they discovered much of the planning and logistics was surprisingly similar. They voted to hold a second conference in San Diego the next year.2
Milestones
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| October 1985 | During the organization's conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with representatives of Toronto, Ontario, and Germany in attendance, the membership voted to officially change the organization's name from the National Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators, to the International Association of Lesbian/Gay Pride Coordinators (IAL/GPC). The organization also pledged to continue reaching out to other countries. |
| October 1997 | During the organization's conference in New York, its membership voted to establish the "WorldPride" title and awarded it to the city of Rome, Italy, for the year 2000.1 |
| October 1999 | The first conference held outside North America, in Glasgow, Scotland.1 |
| October 2001 | The first conference held in the Southern Hemisphere, in Auckland, New Zealand. Delegates were welcomed by the New Zealand Prime Minister.1 |
| October 2003 | The first conference held in a city that did not use English as its primary language, in Montreal, Quebec. The conference itself was still conducted in English.1 |
| October 2004 | The 22nd annual InterPride conference and the first conference held in a non-English speaking country, in Reykjavík, Iceland.1 |
| May 2005 | The second WorldPride was postponed until August 2006, due to military and religious unrest in the region.1 |
| June 2019 | Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 included Human Rights conference, festival and Pride March with 150,000 pre-registered participants among 695 groups. |
| June 2020 | In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, co-produced Global Pride, reached more than 200 million people globally, thanks to coverage around the world, including in global titles Time Magazine, Forbes. |
| October 2022 | The first ever General Meeting & World Conference in Latin America takes place in Guadalajara, Mexico. |
Membership
As of October 26, 2022, InterPride includes 338 member organizations from 70 countries.3
Annual General Meeting & World Conference
During the last three decades, pride organizations from almost every continent have participated in InterPride's annual world conference.4
The conference is held each year in a different city, with the location of upcoming conferences being voted on two years prior to their occurrence. To demonstrate a commitment to support and empower the global LGBTI+ Pride community, the conference is now frequently held outside North America. Scholarships, through the Pamela O'Brien Memorial Scholarship Fund, are available for member organizations that cannot afford to attend. O'Brien was a longtime member of Cape Cod Pride in Massachusetts, US and served InterPride as a Regional Director and Vice President of Operations.5
In addition, several regional Pride networks hold their own conferences independent of InterPride.2
| Year | Host country | Host city | Host organization(s) | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 |  United States
|
Boston | Boston Pride | N/a |
| 1983 | United States
|
San Diego | San Diego Pride | |
| 1984 | United States
|
Wichita | Wichita Pride | Unity & More in '84 |
| 1985 | United States
|
Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale Pride | Alive with Pride in '85 |
| 1986 | United States
|
San Francisco | San Francisco Pride | Forward Together |
| 1987 | United States
|
Baltimore | Baltimore Pride | Proud, Strong, United |
| 1988 | United States
|
St. Louis | Pride St. Louis | Rightfully Proud |
| 1989 |  Canada
|
Vancouver | Vancouver Pride Society | Stonewall 20 – A Generation of Pride |
| 1990 | United States
|
Minneapolis | Twin Cities Pride | Look to the Future |
| 1991 | United States
|
Boston | Boston Pride | Together in Pride |
| 1992 | United States
|
Long Beach | Long Beach Pride | Pride = Power |
| 1993 | United States
|
Houston | Houston Pride | A Family of Pride |
| 1994 | United States
|
Fort Lauderdale | Fort Lauderdale Pride | Stonewall 25 – A Global Celebration of Lesbian & Gay Pride & Protest |
| 1995 | United States
|
Phoenix | Phoenix Pride | Pride – From Silence to Celebration |
| 1996 | United States
|
Kansas City | Kansas City Pride | Pride Without Borders |
| 1997 | United States
|
New York City | NYC Pride | Equality Through Visibility |
| 1998 | United States
|
West Hollywood | West Hollywood Pride | Unity Through Diversity |
| 1999 |  United Kingdom
|
Glasgow | Glasgow Pride | Prideful Past, Powerful Future |
| 2000 | United States
|
Atlanta | Atlanta Pride | Take Pride, Take Joy, Take Action |
| 2001 |  New Zealand
|
Auckland | Auckland Pride | Embrace Diversity |
| 2002 | United States
|
San Francisco | San Francisco Pride | Pride Worldwide |
| 2003 | Canada
|
Montreal | Fierté Montréal | Peace Through Pride |
| 2004 |  Iceland
|
Reykjavík | Reykjavik Pride | Vive La Difference |
| 2005 | United States
|
Minneapolis | Twin Cities Pride | Equal Rights. No More. No Less. |
| 2006 | United States
|
Portland | Portland Pride | Pride – Not Prejudice |
| 2007 |  Switzerland
|
Zürich | Zurich Pride | United For Equality |
| 2008 | Canada
|
Vancouver | Vancouver Pride Society | Live Love Be |
| 2009 | United States
|
St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg Pride | Your Rights, Our Rights, Human Rights |
| 2010 | United States
|
Long Beach | Long Beach Pride | One Heart, One World, One Pride |
| 2011 |  Belgium
|
Brussels | Brussels Pride | Pride Around the World |
| 2012 | United States
|
Boston | Boston Pride | Pride Links Us Together |
| 2013 | Canada
|
Montreal | Fierté Montréal | Pride 365 |
| 2014 | United States
|
Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Pride | Reflections of Pride – Stonewall 45 |
| 2015 | United States
|
Las Vegas | Las Vegas Pride | Color Our World with Pride |
| 2016 |  France
|
Montpellier | Montpellier Pride | Solidarity Through Pride |
| 2017 | United States
|
Indianapolis | Indianapolis Pride | Viva la Vida |
| 2018 | Canada
|
Saskatoon | Saskatoon Pride | Remember the Past, Create the Future |
| 2019 |  Greece
|
Athens | Athens Pride | Millions of Moments of Pride |
| 2020 |  Norway
|
Oslo | Oslo Pride | Exist. Persist. Resist. |
| 2021 | Hosted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic | #YouAreIncluded | ||
| 2022 |  Mexico
|
Guadalajara | Guadalajara Pride | From Silence to Solidarity (English) Del Silencio a la Solidaridad (Spanish) Do Silêncio à Solidariedade (Portuguese) Du Silence à la solidarité (French) |
| 2023 | United States
|
San Diego | San Diego Pride | N/a |
| 2024 |  Colombia
|
Medellín | Corporación Stonewall | |
| 2025 | Hosted online to "increase language justice and accessibility globally" | |||
| 2026 |  Thailand
|
Phuket |
| |
| 2027 |  Italy
|
Rome |
| |
WorldPride
WorldPride, licensed by InterPride and organized by one of its members, is an event that promotes visibility and awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT pride) issues on an international level. WorldPride includes pride parades and/or marches (which may either coincide with the host city's existing pride parade or a separate parade organized specifically for the event), an LGBT human rights conference, arts and culture festivals, and other activities.
At the 1997 InterPride General Meeting and World Conference in New York City, InterPride members voted to award the inaugural WorldPride to be held in Rome, Italy in 2000. Since then, host cities of WorldPride were selected by the members of InterPride during the General Meeting and World Conference, with WorldPride events usually being held every two years.7 Due to its scale and the bidding process in selecting the event's host city, WorldPride was colloquially referred to as "the gay Olympics" by several media outlets.8
| Edn | Year | Host country(s) | Host city(s) | Host organization(s) | Date(s) | Theme | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000 | Italy
|
Rome | Circolo di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli | 1 – 9 July | In Pride We Trust | Event coincided with the Catholic Church's Great Jubilee and the 7th EuroPride festivities. |
| 2 | 2006 |  Israel
|
Jerusalem | Jerusalem Open House | 6 – 12 August 10 November (parade) |
Love Without Borders | Initially scheduled for 2005, but was delayed a year later due to emerging tensions from the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip.9 The scheduled parade was denied a permit owing to the 2006 Lebanon War and was instead held months later on 10 November at Jerusalem's Givat Ram Stadium.101112 |
| 3 | 2012 | United Kingdom
|
London | Pride London | 7 July | N/a | Held just ahead of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games and during the year-long celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee and the city's hosting of the 19th EuroPride festivities. |
| 4 | 2014 | Canada
|
Toronto | Pride Toronto | 20 – 29 June | Rise Up | First WorldPride event in North America. |
| 5 | 2017 |  Spain
|
Madrid | Madrid Pride | 23 June – 2 July | Whoever you love, Madrid loves you! | Event coincided with the city's hosting of the 24th EuroPride festivities. |
| 6 | 2019 | United States
|
New York City | 1 – 30 June | Millions of moments of Pride | Event coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.13 | |
| 7 | 2021 |  Denmark Sweden
|
Copenhagen and Malmö |
|
12 – 22 August | #YouAreIncluded | First WorldPride event hosted in two cities in two countries. It also coincided with Copenhagen's hosting of the 27th EuroPride festivities and the two cities' hosting of the 2021 EuroGames, an LGBTI+ inclusive sporting event that included 29 sports with an estimated 6,000 athletes attending. |
| 8 | 2023 |  Australia
|
Sydney | Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras | 17 February – 5 March | Gather, Dream, Amplify | First WorldPride event in the Southern Hemisphere and the Asia-Pacific region, which provided a focus on LGBTI rights and communities of the Asia-Pacific region including a First Nations Hub dedicated to showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture. |
| 9 | 2025 |  Taiwan |
Cancelled | Event would have been the first WorldPride event in the Asian continent. However, in August 2022, the WorldPride 2025 Taiwan Preparation Committee announced that it would give up hosting the event due to conflicts over the branding of the event.1415 | |||
| United States
|
Washington, D.C. | Capital Pride Alliance | 29 May – 8 June | The Fabric of Freedom | Event was organized in the city as planned despite InterPride issuing a travel advisory to the United States effective 13 March 2025 in the wake of the second presidency of Donald Trump and the issuance of executive orders targeting the transgender community.16 | ||
| 10 | 2026 |  Netherlands
|
Amsterdam | Pride Amsterdam | 25 July – 8 August | Unity | Event will coincide with the city's hosting of the 32nd EuroPride festivities and the 25th anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands, which made the country the first nation in the world to do so. |
| 11 | 2028 |  South Africa
|
Cape Town | Cape Town Pride | TBA | TBA | Event is set to be the first WorldPride event in Africa. |
Controversies
The hosting of the 2025 WorldPride event was initially awarded to the city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 2021 during the 40th InterPride General Meeting and World Conference, which was supposed to be the first WorldPride held in Asia. However, Taiwanese organizers withdrew from hosting the event after allegations that InterPride rolled back on a decision to name the event as "WorldPride 2025, Taiwan" and instead proposed "WorldPride 2025, Kaohsiung" which sparked suspicion from the public that the name change was politically-motivated due to Chinese government policies that do not recognize Taiwan as a separate country from China.17 InterPride refuted this claim with the support of Taiwanese Pride organizers who were privy to the contract negotiation. The hosting rights for WorldPride 2025 was later awarded to Washington, D.C., United States in 2022 during the 41st General Meeting and World Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.18
References
References
- "History". InterPride. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- Robinson, Charlotte (October 12, 2012). "InterPride 2012 Co-Chairs on Celebrating 30 Years of Global Pride". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- "Our Members". InterPride. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- Houston, Andrea (October 8, 2013). "Xtra heads to Montreal for the InterPride conference". Daily Xtra. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- "Scholarship". InterPride. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- "Themes & Host Cities". InterPride. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
- "WorldPride". InterPride. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
- Nguyen, Kevin; Collins, Antonette (21 October 2019). "'Sydney, we're coming for ya, baby': Australia wins WorldPride bid for 2023". ABC News. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- "Jerusalem Hosts World Pride | Welcome to the World Congress of Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Jewish Organizations". Glbtjews.org. December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2026.
- Buchanan, Wyatt. "Broad Opposition to World Pride in Jerusalem", The San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2006. Accessed August 5, 2007.
- "Jerusalem gay rights group delays WorldPride events due to Gaza withdrawal", The Advocate, May 17, 2005
- "Israelis hold gay pride rally in Jerusalem". NBC News. November 11, 2006. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
- "New York City Will Host WorldPride 2019 To Celebrate 50th Anniversary Of Stonewall - Towleroad". Towleroad. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- Taiwan drops bid to host WorldPride 2025 over naming row，2022-8-12
- Blanchard, Ben (12 August 2022). "Taiwan blames politics for cancellation of global Pride event". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
- Lavers, Michael K. (13 March 2025). "InterPride issues advisory for transgender, nonbinary people traveling to US". Washington Blade. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
- "Taiwanese organizers announce cancellation of WorldPride 2025". Focus Taiwan. 12 August 2022. Retrieved Aug 19, 2022.
- Augenstein, Neal (4 November 2022). "DC selected to host WorldPride 2025 celebration, but was not 1st choice". WTOP-FM. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2026.