In conjunction with WorldPride 2025, Rainbow History Project is creating an exhibit on the evolution of Pride: “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.” This is the third of 10 articles that share our research themes.
In “A Bookstore Blocks the Street,” we explore 1975 to 1979 and how the Lambda Rising Bookstore hosted Gay Pride Day Block Parties, initiating the annual Pride events in D.C.
In the years following the 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day March, many gay Washingtonians traveled to NYC for the annual Pride events.
But in 1975, according to Deacon Maccubbin, a friend posed a crucial question: I love going to New York for Pride, but why do we have to go all the way every time?