São Paulo Gay Parade - Past Events

«São Paulo Gay Parade

Text below, including attendance figures, were taken from the website of the Association of the Parade of Pride of Gays, Lesbians, Bissexuals and Transgenders of São Paulo.

1st Parade. June 28th 1997. Attendance: 2,000 people.
Motto: Somos muitos, estamos em todas as profissões. We are many, we are in all professions.
The Parade was then known as Parade of Pride of Gays, Lesbians and Transvestites.
The main incentivator of the first edition was Grupo Corsa, an association founded in São Paulo to defend the rights of homossexuals; the acronym CORSA stands for Cidadania, Orgulho, Respeito, Solidariedade e Amor, which translates as Citizenship, Pride, Respect, Solidarity and Love. The Parade far outgrew CORSA, but this is still one of the most important gay activist group in Brazil.
Other important groups to participate in the First Gay Parade were the Caheusp (Academic Center for Homoerotic Studies of the University of São Paulo), the APTA (Association for Prevention and Treatment of Aids), and some leftist Political Parties, like PT and PSTU.
The Parade started with a few hundred people, and grew large as they moved along. The Parade started in Avenida Paulista and finished at Praça Roosevelt.
The Parade had only one car (a Volskwagen Kombi) with speakers on top. The greatest symbol of the Parades, the rainbow flag, was there.

2nd Parade. June 28th 1998. Attendance: 7,000 people.
Motto: Os direitos de gays, lésbicas e travestis são direitos humanos. The rights of gays, lesbians and transvestites are Human Rights.
With better organization and plenty of word of mouth marketing, the event tripled in size.
The public grew so much that it made necessary the creation of a group to organize the event in 1999; the Associação da Parada do Orgulho de Gays, Lésbicas, Bissexuais e Transgêneros de São Paulo (Association of Parade of prides of Gays, Lesbians, Bissexuals and Transgenders of São Paulo) was created.

3rd Parade. June 27th 1999. Attendance: 35,000 people.
Motto: Orgulho gay no Brasil, rumo ao ano 2000. Gay Pride in Brazil, towards year 2000.
With an organization group behind it, the Parade gained momentum. The city government gave more assistance, but financial and logistic; the event entered the official Tourist Calendar of São Paulo.
The tour was extended as far as Praça da República. The name of the Parade was changed to include the Bissexuals and Transsexuals (Transvestites and Transsexuals are now referred to as Transgenders).
Even if some growth was expected, the attendance of 35,000 people overcame all expectations.

Parade 2000

4th Parade. June 25th 2000. Attendance: 120,000 people.
Motto: Celebrando o Orgulho de Viver a Diversidade. Celebrating the Pride of Living in Diversity.
For the first time an artist, Edson Cordeiro, was in the front truck; he opened the Parade by singing the Brazilian National Anthem.
About 300 policemen were present, not to prevent rioting. The Parade had grew so much that only the Police could guarantee that a few lanes of Avenida Paulista would remain free for vehicles.
That year, also for the first time, the Parade had a parallel programme, with expositions of photos, signings of books and debates related to homossexuality.
See photos of the São Paulo Gay Parade in 2000.

5th Parade. June 17th 2001. Attendance: 250,000 people.
Motto: Abraçando a Diversidade. Embracing Diversity.
The Parade had 12 vehicles. Also, more expositions, more debates, musical shows, exhibition of movies. The then Mayor of São Paulo, Marta Suplicy, was present.
It was not possible to keep the Parade within only half of Avenida Paulista; all lanes of the wide avenue were taken.
For the first time the Parade had a private sponsor: the internet portal IG, which today is one of the largest in Brazil.
See photos of the 5th Gay Parade.

6th Parade. June 2nd 2002. Attendance: 500,000 people.
Motto: Educando para a Diversidade. Educating for Diversity.
The Parade was growing to become one of the largest in the world. This edition had 25 electric trios, and massive media coverage.
The motto started to change, from celebration to education.

7th Parade. June 22nd 2003. Attendance: 1,000,000 people.
Motto: Construindo Políticas Homossexuais. Making Politics for Homossexuals.
A milestone, 1,000,000 people. With the motto, the organization brought to discussion the necessity of thinking about legislation specific for homossexuals.
The transgenders came with their own electric truck, so did the lesbians.
The Parade was finished with a show by Elza Soares, who would become an icon of the GLS movement in Brazil.
See some photos and info in Portuguese about the São Paulo Gay Parade 2003.

Parade 2004

8th Parade. June 13th 2004. Attendance: 1.8 million people.
Motto: Temos Família e Orgulho. We Have Family and Pride.
The organizers say that, in 2004, the São Paulo Gay Parade already was the biggest in the world. The Parade becomes famous all over the world.
Read more about the São Paulo Gay Parade 2004.
See photos of the Gay Parade 2004.

9th Parade. May 29th 2005. Attendance: 2.5 million people.
Motto: Parceria civil, já. Direitos iguais! Nem mais nem menos. Civil Union, now. Equal rights! No more, no less.
The Parade consolidates the position of biggest in the world.
The motto reinvidicates the approval of a law which has been in Congress for more than 10 years. This law would give to homossexual couples the same rights as of hetero couples (instead of "marriage", the world Union is used to signify the legal binding of two people of same sex).
See some photos of São Paulo Gay Parade 2005; see report in Portuguese and in English.

10th Parade. June 17th 2006.
Motto: Homofobia é Crime! Direitos Sexuais são Direitos Humanos. Homophoby is crime! Sexual rights are Human rights.


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