The First Gay Pride Parade

I was there from the beginning of this book; I am not just telling you a story I heard. I am not just talking the talk; I did it. I moved from Conn to southern California in the late '60s, where this book begins. I am now 86 years old and remember the cute young lesbian butch that socialized on the streets of Los Angeles. Sadly, I have collected too many wrinkles, a few extra pounds, and a smile with fewer teeth, but I remember

things that no one has ever put in print, and now this cute old lesbian will tell you how it really was. Born in 1939, I grew up when being different was met with hostility and cruelty. Being Gay before 1970 and publicly exposing that you were homosexual was to admit you were insane, perverse, deviant, and evil, to say the least. Believe me, I know.

So, at 86, I finally decided it was "do or die time." Although it might be a small piece of Los Angeles's gay history, it is, in my opinion, an important one, and it was never exposed by any data-collecting organization that I could find in today's expansive database. That prompted me to finally "Come Out" and uncover the mystery of who the 'Lesbian on Horseback' truly was. It is in many databases and reads, "Rev. Troy Perry, Bob Humphries, and a lesbian on horseback led the parade from its starting point at McCadden Place and Hollywood Boulevard. I have often wondered if the Homosexual community ever wondered who that unknown Lesbian on horseback was and the identity of the buckskin she sat on. Perhaps much in the same way, respectful Americans questioned the identity of the unknown soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The First LA Gay Parade on June 28, 1970, in Los Angeles was Led by a beautiful Palomino Gelding Named Ali. Sitting on his back as the leader of this parade was a Lesbian named Kathleen Lee. She just happened to be my wife, and I took her name when we married; thus, I have since been Jeri Lee.