Gay Pride Celebration 1991

Lesbian and Gay Pride

Theme: "Together in Pride”

Location: South Park Blocks by PSU

Dates: June 22, 1991

Rainbow flags, drag queens, family ties: A visual history of Portland's Pride Parade - oregonlive.com “While Portland's Lesbian and Gay Pride parade had featured local and state politicians over the years, 1991 brought something new. Police Chief Tom Potter rode in the parade to show solidarity with his daughter Katie, a Portland police officer who had recently come out. Potter also wanted to show that the gay community that they could count on fair treatment from police, after a long history of being targeted. "The role of police is to see people are treated equally and fairly and that their rights are provided them," he told The Oregonian.

The Oregon Citizens Alliance called on Potter to resign, claiming that by wearing his uniform in the parade he had made his own political agenda that of the Portland Police Bureau. [photo credit Above Left and Right Bob Ellis, The Oregonian]

The 1991 parade was the largest in history at that point, with more than 6,000 marchers, including supporters from small Oregon towns, as well as a contingent from the timber community of Roseburg.”

Articles represented on this page are from Just Out newspaper, June and July 1991 issues [https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/] except “Wild Queens to play” November 1991, Alternative Connection.