Atlanta Pride, also colloquially (and formerly) called the Atlanta Gay Pride Festival, is a week-long annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) pride festival held in Atlanta, Georgia (United States). Established in 1971, it is one of the oldest and largest pride festivals in the United States. According to the Atlanta Pride Committee, as of 2017, attendance had continually grown to around 300,000. Originally a pride held in June, Atlanta Pride has been held in October every year since 2008, typically on a weekend closest to National Coming Out Day. Background The annual pride week began when a group of lesbian, gay men, drag queens, and gender non-conformists joined together. At the time police raids on gay bars were common because homosexual sex was illegal in all but one state in the United States.[3] On June 28, 1969, the police raided a popular gay bar called Stonewall Inn. Everyone was cooperative until the police began to force three drag queens and a lesbian into the back of a police car. The crowd of bystanders began to throw bottles at the police and fight back. This riot later became known as the Stonewall riot. The riot lasted for several days and began one of the first equal rights protests for the LGBT community.[4] That riot was the beginning of the LGBT rights movements and the opportunity and gateway for Atlanta Pride. In 1970, a year after the Stonewall riots, Atlanta activists handed out literature at an arts festival in Piedmont Park. During the city's first Pride protest march in 1971, activists were not granted a permit to march; the march took place on sidewalks from Downtown to Piedmont Park. In 1972, hundreds of people marched in the parade, which was covered by local television stations. In 1973, some marchers wore paper bags over their heads to hide their identity, protecting themselves from the dangers they may face and to represent how invisible they felt in their communities.[5] Since 2010, the event has had an annual economic impact of over $25 million for the city. In 2016, Pride.com named Atlanta Pride one of the eight best LGBT pride events in the nation. Held in October to coincide with "National Coming Out Day," the Atlanta Pride festival is preceded by a variety of events that begin in June to celebrate the Stonewall riots. Each year, the Atlanta Pride Committee names Grand Marshals, including Stacey