QUEENS PRIDE promotes awareness and education among and of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community of Queens, New York. Our founders were provoked to organize the QUEENS PRIDE parade and festival by the murder of Julio Rivera and discrimination in our local schools.These events brought the LGBTQ community of Queens together to achieve respect, and in doing so, identified a need to take advocacy to the streets. Our first Queens Pride march was held in 1993, and since, our parade and festival have grown tremendously. We now attract more than 40,000 spectators and are the second largest Pride celebration in the New York metropolitan area. Queens Pride continues to promote the visibility and accomplishments of the LGBT community and to foster acceptance by the many cultures and religions represented in our borough. In addition to the parade and festival, our group works to foster youth, cultural, and social programming and to engage our elected officials on issues pertinent to the LGBT community. We host various programs, community outreach and our Winter Pride Dinner Dance. Many volunteers and dedicated individuals help to bring about the annual parade and festival along with the other programs and events throughout the year. The Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee, Inc. was founded in 1992 and is a registered not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation in the State of New York.