Pride March Victoria recognises and celebrates the people and events that inspire the courage, solidarity, pride, diversity and strong sense of community of Victoria's gay, lesbian, bisexual, intersex and transgender people. We organise cultural activities that bring our community together in a safe and positive environment.

The annual Pride March is our signature event and celebrates a bright future while preserving our history. It is a key date on Victoria's cultural calendar and a destination for interstate and international visitors.

InterPride

Brett Hayhoe is the Secretary of InterPride, WorldPride Committee Co-Chair and Media and Public Relations Coordinator. Contact him by email here.

In the fall of 1982 representatives from half a dozen US LGBT Pride Event producing organisations gathered in Boston, Massachusetts to network and learn from each other. From that meeting, the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride Coordinators was born. Since then, annual conferences have been held in a different city each year, with attendances well over the hundred marks, representing a growing number of world regions each time.

As the movement for equal rights for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender persons has grown over the years, so too have Pride Events and InterPride. By 1986 the organisation had non-US organisations at the conference and in the first set of by-laws changed the name to the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride Coordinators. In the years that followed, other non-US delegates included delegates from Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. In 2007, this increased to include delegates from countries as far away as Sri Lanka and Australia.

In 1997, expanded outreach made the organisation truly global and the conference in New York City was attended by representatives of 73 Pride Organisation from 18 countries. The next year the delegates voted to add Bisexual and Transgender to the name of the organization. At the 1999 conference, in Glasgow, Scotland, the first conference held off the North American Continent, the organisation changed its name to InterPride to consolidate and better reflect its international structure.

The organisation has been recognised at its conferences with addresses by the heads of state in New Zealand and Iceland, not to mention numerous other elected and governmental officials. The membership has shared the joys and pains of the struggle for equality from around the world; from full marriage rights in Canada, Denmark and Spain, to homophobic violence at Pride Events in Eastern Europe. The wide range of recognition and response to LGBT Pride Events demonstrates the necessity for LGBT Pride Event producing organisations and the support and networking that InterPride offers.

Since the early days of the internet, InterPride has posted a Global Calendar of LGBT Pride Events, reproduced in the following pages. Local Pride event organisations submit their information and InterPride posts it as a service to the LGBT Community worldwide. Those organisations which decide to join InterPride receive a link from their listing to their own website as well as the listing in this magazine. Additional benefits for member organisations include discount memberships in the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) and the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA); along with the many resources available through conferences and our member’s only section of our website.

InterPride chooses an annual theme each year at the world conference. While no member organisation is required to use the theme, it does demonstrate unity for the community around the world. The International theme for 2012 with the AGM and World Conference being awarded to Boston MA is Pride Links Us Together. The 2013 International Theme is Pride 365 with the AGM and World Conference being awarded to Montreal, Canada.

InterPride invites all LGBT Pride Event producing organisations to join us. Whether your organisation produces a series of events each year or just one, and whether attendance is enormous or modest, we believe each organisation has valuable experience and knowledge to share with others. As we are an organization of organisations, there are no individual memberships available, however, we strongly encourage you to volunteer for and/or join your local LGBT Pride Event producing organisation. The individual reward is as great as the community reward. Visit our website to find out more.

Happy Pride!