The highlight of the event is the parade, which has been held in the evening after sunset since 1997. The festivities are held all day on the 4th Saturday of June. This event commemorates the 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood, which is generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. The festival takes place in June to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. The Houston Gay Pride Parade (or often called the Houston Pride Parade) is the major feature of a gay pride festival held annually since 1979.
