Pride Bands Alliance is an international network of LGBTQ+ and affirming

community band A community band is a concert band or brass band ensemble composed of volunteer (non-paid) musicians in a particular geographic area. It may be sponsored by the local (municipal) government or self-supporting. These groups rehearse regularly and p ...

s founded in 1982 as the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America. The organization supports local bands by providing a network for communication, hosting annual conferences, and providing the opportunity for members to perform in massed band performances in major events throughout the world. Pride Bands Alliance currently includes over 30 bands in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, United Kingdom, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Current Member Organizations

* Atlanta Freedom Band * Band Together (St. Louis, MO) * Central Florida Sounds of Freedom and Colorguard (Orlando, FL) * Charlotte Pride Band (Charlotte, NC) * Cleveland Pride Band (Cleveland, OH) * Columbus Pride Bands (Columbus, OH) * D.C.’s Different Drummers (Washington, DC) * Desert Overture (Phoenix, AZ) * Desert Winds Freedom Band (Palm Springs, CA) * Encantada, The Band of Enchantment (Albuquerque, NM) * Flower City Pride Band (Rochester, NY) * Freedom Trail Band of Boston (Boston, MA) * Gay Freedom Band of Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA) * Houston Pride Band (Houston, TX) * Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles (Chicago IL) * Mid America Freedom Band (Kansas City, MO) * Mile High Freedom Bands (Denver, CO) * Minnesota Freedom Band (Minneapolis, MN) * Oak Lawn Band (Dallas, TX) * Philadelphia Freedom Band (Philadelphia, PA) * Pride of Indy Bands, Inc. (Indianapolis, IN) * Pride of San Antonio Showband (San Antonio, TX) * Queen City Freedom Band (Cincinnati, OH) * Rainbow City Performing Arts (Seattle, WA) * Rose City Pride Bands (Portland OR) *

San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band The San Francisco Pride Band (formerly the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band or SFLGFB) is a community-based concert, marching, and pep band in San Francisco. It is the official band of San Francisco. Founded in 1978, it was the first openl ...

(San Francisco, CA) * South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble (Ft Lauderdale, FL) * Tampa Bay Pride Band (Tampa, FL) * The Queer Big Apple Corps (New York, NY) * Triangle Pride Band (Raleigh, NC) Partner Organizations * Bay Area Rainbow Symphony (San Francisco, CA) * CHEER San Francisco (San Francisco, CA) * London Gay Symphonic Winds (London, UK) * Melbourne Rainbow Band (Melbourne, AU) * Queer Urban Orchestra (New York, NY) * Rainbow Concert Band (Vancouver, CA)

Origins

Pride Bands Alliance was originally formed as the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America when members of seven independent lesbian and gay bands met formally in Chicago from October 1–3, 1982. Founding Bands * San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band (San Francisco, CA) * Montrose Symphonic Band (Houston, TX) * Los Angeles Great American Yankee (GAY) Freedom Band (Los Angeles, CA) * New York Gay Community Marching Band (New York, NY) * Chicago Gay/Lesbian Community Band (Chicago, IL) * D.C.'s Different Drummers (Washington DC) * Oak Lawn Symphonic Band (Dallas, TX) * Minnesota Freedom Band (Minneapolis, MN)

Conferences and Special Events

Pride Bands Alliance meets annually in a conference hosted by a member band. Conferences generally attract over 300 participants and include workshops, roundtable discussions, social events, and performance opportunities that can include massed band concerts, parades, jazz band, pep band, as well as smaller ensembles. Conferences sometimes include special guest conductors and composers. Past Pride Bands Alliance annual conferences have included

Alfred Reed Alfred Reed (born as Alfred Friedman) (January 25, 1921 – September 17, 2005) was an American Neoclassicism (music), neoclassical composer, with more than two hundred published works for concert band, orchestra, choir, chorus, and chamber e ...

Frank Ticheli Frank Ticheli ( ; born January 21, 1958) is an American composer of orchestral, choral, chamber, and concert band works. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is a Professor Emeritus of Composition at the University of Southern Califo ...

, Julie Giroux, Robert Longfield, Michael Markowski, Randall Standridge, Rossano Galante. Conference concerts have also featured celebrity emcees/performers including

Rita Moreno Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is an American actress, dancer, and singer. With a career spanning eight decades she is known for her roles on stage and screen, and is one of the last remaining stars from t ...

Judith Light Judith Ellen Light (born February 9, 1949) is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of ''A Doll's House''. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap oper ...

Cindy Williams Cynthia Jane Williams (August 22, 1947 – January 25, 2023) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms ''Happy Days'' (1975–1979), and ''Laverne & Shirley'' (1976–1982). She a ...

Dick Sargent Richard Stanford Cox (April 19, 1930 – July 8, 1994), known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor. He is best known for being the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on ABC's fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He took the name ...

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

, Denali Foxx, and

Angeria Paris VanMicheals Tommie Laron Holsey (born July 25, 1993), better known by the stage name Angeria Paris VanMicheals, is an American drag performer who competed on the fourteenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and won the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All ...

Massed Band Events

Pride Bands Alliance organizes massed band performances for musicians from member bands at major events throughout the world. Events have included: * World Pride, New York City, USA 2019 * Gay Games X, Paris, France 2018 * Gay Games IX, Cleveland, USA 2014 * Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration, Washington, DC 2013 * World Pride, London, UK 2012 * Gay Games VIII, Cologne, Germany 2010 * Barack Obama Presidential Inauguration, Washington, DC 2009 *

Gay Games VII The 2006 Gay Games (Gay Games VII), colloquially called the Chicago Gaymes, was part of a family of international sports and cultural festivals called Gay Games, sanctioned by the Federation of Gay Games and organized by the gay, lesbian, bis ...

, Chicago, USA 2006 *

Gay Games VI The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was s ...

, Sydney, Australia 2002 *

Millennium March on Washington The Millennium March on Washington was an event to raise awareness and visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and issues of LGBT rights in the US, it was held April 28 through April 30, 2000 in Washington, DC. The Mill ...

, Washington DC 2000 * Gay Games V, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1998 * Bill Clinton Presidential Inauguration, Washington DC 1997 * Gay Games IV, New York, USA 1994 *

March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

, Washington DC 1993 * Bill Clinton Presidential Inauguration, Washington DC 1993 * March on Washington, Washington DC 1990 * Gay Games III, Vancouver, Canada 1990th * Gay Games II, San Francisco, USA 1986 *

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

, Los Angeles, USA 1984 * Gay Games I, San Francisco, USA 1982

References

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

- Issue 356, 25 November 1982- Beautiful Music Together *

OutSmart ''OutSmart Magazine'', or simply ''OutSmart'', is a monthly publication serving Houston's LGBT community since 1994. Founded by Greg Jeu, the magazine's outreach has exceeded 200,000 and is distributed at over 350 locations in Houston and Galve ...

- July 2006 pages 10, 42 (mention of musicians going to Gay Games *

Washington Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is an LGBTQ newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the '' Philadelphia Gay News'' and the '' Gay City New ...

-16 January 2009 page 18- Gay Chorus, band to join festivities * OutSmart- January 2009 page 10- Houston Pride Band Members to Perform at Inauguration * “Road to the Inauguration.” Democratic and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), 1/11/09 * “The Presidential Inauguration Parade Continues.” CNN: The Situation Room, 1/21/93 * OutSmart- February 2013 cover and page 24- Greetings from Washington, DC * “‘This is our time’: Clinton Takes oath as the 42nd president applauds predecessor for “Service to America.”, The Washington Times, 1/21/93, A1

External links

Official Pride Bands Alliance site
LGBTQ organizations based in the United States