Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the 1986 LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. That’s the old New York Coliseum Building in the background which was demolished in 2000 for the towering steel-and-glass Time Warner Center. (imagine how furious Jackie Onassis would have been had she lived to see that!) This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Diana Di Prima. Sybil’s gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A.)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Mark Garrett. Sybil’s gown by A.Q.U.A)

[Want to read other fun and funny stories here on SybilSez.com? Just enter any topic that pops into your head in the "search" window on the upper right! Who knows what might come up?...and feel free to share them with your friends!]