Official plans will be announced Thursday, Nov. 6, for the 50th anniversary celebration of the start of the organized LGBT civil rights movement, Windy City Times has learned.
A press conference will be held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with the city’s mayor, Michael Nutter, and others present, to discuss the East Coast activists who picketed for equality each July 4 during 1965-69.
The official 50th-anniversary celebration will be held next July 4 and the Independence National Historical Park has issued a permit for the event, which will feature a large stage in front of Independence Hall.
“The 50th anniversary will commemorate a seminal moment in LGBT civil rights, when the Gay Pioneers with picket signs for equality launched the movement on July 4, 1965, and [it] will celebrate the remarkable progress of the past 50 years,” said Malcolm Lazin, chair, 50th Anniversary and the executive director for the Equality Forum. “It is a coup to receive a permit from Independence National Historical Park. We are soliciting community input as the organizing committee plans this historic celebration.”
In addition to the 50th anniversary next July, the festivities at Independence Mall also will include a national politics panel at Congress Hall and a national legal panel at the National Museum of American Jewish History July 2, as well as events July 3.
There will be parties each evening in addition to LGBT history exhibits at the National Constitution Center, National Museum of American Jewish History and Independence Visitor Center. The exhibits include The Legacy Wall Traveling Exhibit of Chicago’s Legacy Project.