In 1975, a gay pop superstar, Elton John, made a No. 1 hit from the defiant anthem “Philadelphia Freedom” and film audiences fell in love with a horny, cross-dressing, shamelessly queer mad scientist in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Still, public demonstrations of gay pride and solidarity were strictly a big-city phenomenon.
It was during that year that Santa Cruz became perhaps America’s first small city to celebrate what is today known simply as “Pride,” with a weekend festival in San Lorenzo Park.
If you’re doing the math, next year marks the 50th anniversary of that pioneering event, and Santa Cruz Pride, the local organization that has grown out of it, is not going to let it pass by without proper commemoration.
Santa Cruz Pride is in the planning stages of a big celebration breaking the bonds of Pride Month, with events and activities that will begin as early as February, culminating in the 50th-anniversary Pride parade on June 1.
The events include a major art show at M.K. Contemporary Art in downtown Santa Cruz called “Here to Eternity,” a showcase of artists from the LGBTQ+ community to open May 2. The exhibition will include several public events, including an opening reception and a cocktail party.
Rob Darrow of Santa Cruz Pride also said that his organization is creating a podcast series featuring local students interviewing people who were instrumental in that pioneering 1975 Pride event or other early gay-rights activities. “We hope to have 24 interviews done this month that we will then turn into podcasts to be released gradually from January to June,” he said.
Darrow is also looking for artists interested in decorating 10 to 15 utility boxes on street corners around Santa Cruz County on the theme of LGBTQ history. Also in the works is a queer skate night event, the return of the drag circus show Queerlantis, and a big kickoff event in early February.
The 50th-anniversary events, said Darrow, will continue to promote the joyous and celebratory parts of LGBTQ+ life, but by focusing on the community “elders” who experienced a different era in the struggle for equality and groundbreaking organizations such as the Santa Cruz AIDS Project, he hopes the 50th will also serve as an inspiration for future activism and advocacy.
“We view this as a kind of passing of the baton to the next generation,” he said. “Those of us who were around for the first 50 years won’t be around 50 years from now. But it’s interesting thinking about what life might be like in the future because of people learning about our local history in the process of this 50th anniversary.”
The Santa Cruz Pride Committee is now looking for artists to submit proposals for the utility box project, themed on LGBTQ+ history in Santa Cruz County. The deadline for submissions is Jan. 15. For details on submitting proposals, go here.
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