ACT UP/RI at RI Pride
Following the discovery of AIDS, pride parades across the country began to serve a new purpose as a forum for education and awareness. Since the disease deeply affected the gay community, especially gay men, many within the community urged gay people to educate themselves and to protest for better AIDS laws and more available treatment.
The first pride parade in Rhode Island was a contentious affair. In 1976, Rhode Island was preparing to celebrate the country’s bicentennial, and the gay community in Rhode Island wanted to have a pride parade in conjunction with that celebration. However, the chief of police as well as the mayor strongly opposed such a parade. This only encouraged the gay community, and they took the case to court and won. Thus, as an ACT UP Rhode Island flier claims, the first pride parade in Rhode Island was, in fact, a protest, one which claimed dignity and agency for gay individuals.1
The 1989 RI pride parade came soon before the mandatory testing law was to go into effect, providing an important moment for AIDS activism in the state. The parade offered another opportunity for ACT UP to raise awareness about the law and demonstrate against it.
1“Recalling The Gay Pride Parade Case of 1976 | ACLU of Rhode Island,” July 9, 2020, https://www.riaclu.org/en/news/recalling-gay-pride-parade-case-1976.