- WHAT IS NOW CHEESMAN PARK WAS ONCE THE CITY CEMETERY.

SO THIS IS THE MAIN AREA WHERE DENVER WAS STARTED.

AND THEN OVER HERE IS THE CEMETERY.

SO THIS LITTLE SECTION RIGHT THERE IS CHEESMAN PARK.

- SO YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE THE GRAVES FOR YOURSELF.

IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY EASY.

LOOK FOR DEPRESSIONS IN THE GRASS.

-THE HISTORY OF CHEESMAN PARK IS IMPORTANT JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE HISTORY OF DENVER AND IT'S THE HISTORY OF UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMMUNITY AND WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST.

- CHEESMAN PARK ALSO HAS A HUGE CONNECTION TO THE GAY COMMUNITY AND DENVER'S VERY FIRST PRIDE EVENT TOOK PLACE THERE IN 1974.

- HAPPY PRIDE!

- HAPPY PRIDE!

-IT'S A SPACE WHERE WE CAN OUTWARDLY, IN COMMUNITY, CELEBRATE WHO WE ARE.

- CHEESMAN PARK IS IN THE MIDDLE OF A DENSE URBAN PART OF DENVER.

AND IT'S NOT IMMUNE TO MANY CULTURAL THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING ACROSS THE US.

- IT WAS SO IMPORTANT PEOPLE MET THERE.

PEOPLE FELT SAFE THERE.

- IT IS JUST A PLACE WHERE WE CAN BE AUTHENTICALLY OURSELVES IN PUBLIC.

[LANTERN SQUEAKING] [LANTERN SQUEAKING] - CHEESMAN PARK IS DENVER'S VERY FIRST CITY CEMETERY.

IT'S ABOUT THIS TIME OF THE EVENING THAT PEOPLE REPORT HEARING FOOTSTEPS BEHIND THEM.

THEY'LL HEAR SOMEONE BREATHING IN THEIR EAR.

THEY'LL LOOK BEHIND A TREE TO SEE WHAT THAT NOISE WAS, AND THEY'LL SEE A TALL FIGURE THAT WILL APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE.

NOW, I WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION FOR YOURSELF.

IS THE PARK TRULY HAUNTED AS SO MANY CLAIM?

[MUSIC] [CRICKETS CHIRPING] - PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT CHEESMAN PARK AS A CEMETERY FOR A LONG TIME.

IT WENT BY VARIOUS NAMES, MOUNT PROSPECT, THE CITY CEMETERY, BOOT HILL, JACK O 'NEILL'S RANCH.

BUT IT WAS THE MAIN BURIAL SITE FOR PEOPLE IN DENVER FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.

[LANTERN SQUEAKING] - NOW, FOLKS, THIS IS THE FINAL GRAVE MARKER IN ALL OF CHEESMAN PARK.

GUYS, I'M KIDDING, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT IT'S FOR.

[LAUGHING] IT'S JUST A PIECE OF CONCRETE.

NOW, IT WAS NOVEMBER 16TH, 1858 WHEN GENERAL WILLIAM LARIMER ARRIVES AT THE CORNER OF THE PLATTE RIVER AND THE CHERRY CREEK RIVER.

HE FOUNDS WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS THE CITY OF DENVER.

- SO IN 1858, WILLIAM LARIMER FOUNDED DENVER CITY, AND OF COURSE IF PEOPLE START MOVING HERE, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE, AND THEY REALIZED, OH, YEAH, WE'RE GOING TO NEED A CEMETERY.

SO THEY WENT TWO MILES OUTSIDE OF TOWN AND STARTED HAVING BURIALS THERE.

- THIS ONE ALSO HAS THE CEMETERY ON IT.

SO LET ME PULL THIS ONE TOO.

MY NAME IS SHAUN BOYD.

I'M THE CURATOR OF ARCHIVES.

LET'S TRY THIS ONE AS WELL.

AND THE CURATOR OF POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT AT HISTORY, COLORADO.

SO THIS IS A MAP OF DENVER FROM 1872.

SO THIS IS THE MAIN AREA WHERE DENVER WAS STARTED.

THIS WAS THE AURARIA PART.

AND THEN OVER HERE IS THE CEMETERY.

SO YOU CAN SEE IT'S KIND OF LIKE OUT OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA.

SO THIS LITTLE SECTION RIGHT THERE IS CHEESMAN PARK.

- NOW THIS GENTLY SLOPING HILL, TWO MILES AWAY FROM THE CITY CENTER, IT APPEARED TO BE THE PERFECT LOCATION, AND THEY STAKE OUT 320 ACRES FOR THE MOUNT PROSPECT CEMETERY.

THERE WERE ALL DIFFERENT AREAS TO THE CEMETERY.

YOU'RE BURIED BASED IN YOUR CLASS, RACE, RELIGION, FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION.

NOW THE AREA THAT YOU'RE CURRENTLY STANDING IN, THIS WAS THE WEALTHY SECTION.

THERE WAS A PAUPER SECTION, POOR SECTION, CHINESE SECTION, FRATERNAL SECTION.

BUT FOLKS, PLEASE FOLLOW ME INTO THE PARK.

- SO BETWEEN 1859 AND 1875, THE CITY STARTED CREEPING FURTHER AND FURTHER EAST.

AND ALL THE WHILE, THE CEMETERY'S JUST SITTING OUT THERE GETTING MORE PEOPLE AND GETTING MORE DEVELOPED.

BUT THEN THE RAILROAD CAME.

AND SO SUDDENLY THE DENVER POPULATION EXPLODED.

[TRAIN WHISTLE] - AND SO BY ABOUT 1876, NO ONE REALLY KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE BURIED HERE.

IT WAS LIKELY MANY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, BUT THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN DENVER WHO SAID, I DON'T WANT TO BE BURIED IN THAT PARK.

IT'S NOT VERY NICE.

IT'S KIND OF MUDDY.

THERE AREN'T REALLY TREES OR ANYTHING.

- THE CEMETERY WAS NOT WELL KEPT.

THERE WAS NO ONE MANAGING IT.

THERE WAS NO PLOTS, PLAN, ANYTHING.

AND THEY WERE USING WOODEN MARKERS.

AND THERE WERE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE CEMETERY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.

- BY THE LATE 1800S INTO THE MID 1890S, EVERYONE FELT LIKE THIS NEEDED TO REALLY BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN A CEMETERY.

AND THEN THEY REALLY WANTED IT TURNED INTO A PARK.

- THE WEALTHIER PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO MOVE INTO THIS AREA AND THEY'RE BUILDING THESE BIG HOUSES.

AND IT BECAME OBVIOUS THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE THE CEMETERY.

- NOW, IN 1890, WE NEED TO REMOVE THE BODIES.

THE CITY DECIDES THEY'RE GOING TO COME UP WITH A BRILLIANT IDEA.

THEY'RE GOING TO PUT AN AD IN THE NEWSPAPER.

PLEASE REMOVE YOUR LOVED ONES.

BUT JUST LIKE TODAY, MOST PEOPLE MOVED OUT HERE ALONE, WITH NOT MUCH OF A SUPPORT SYSTEM.

SO NOT SURPRISINGLY, LOTS OF BODIES REMAINED.

SO THE CITY DOES ANOTHER THING.

THEY DECIDE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO HIRE THE LOWEST BIDDER.

WHO ANSWERS THIS LOWEST BID, BUT E. P. MCGOVERN.

- THE CITY DECIDED TO CLOSE THE SITE IN 1893.

AND SO THAT'S WHEN THEY STARTED CONTRACTING WITH THIS UNDERTAKER NAMED E. P. MCGOVERN TO MOVE THE REMAINING GRAVES.

THEY SET OUT TO START MOVING THE BODIES ON MARCH 14TH.

AND THEN BY MARCH 19TH, THERE WAS AN ARTICLE IN ONE OF THE NEWSPAPERS CALLED THE DENVER REPUBLICAN THAT WAS TITLED THE WORK OF GHOULS.

AND IT WAS THIS VERY SENSATIONALIST ARTICLE REPORTING MCGOVERN AND HIS CREW WERE SPLITTING ONE BODY ACROSS THREE CASKETS SO THEY COULD GET PAID MORE AND THEY WERE USING CHILD SIZED CASKETS AND THERE WERE BONES STREWN ALL OVER THE PLACE AND HOLES EVERYWHERE AND IT MADE IT SOUND LIKE A MESS.

- SOMETIMES THE BODIES WOULD BE FRESH.

NOW HE WAS SEEN HIS MEN HACKING UP THESE FRESH BODIES TRYING TO STUFF THEM INTO THESE CHILDREN'S CASKETS.

YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT THIS WAS LIKE.

THE NEWSPAPERS LABELED ALL THIS THE WORK OF GHOULS.

- LIKE THAT KIND OF STUFF WAS BEING REPORTED IN THE NEWSPAPER AND IT OF COURSE CAUSED PANIC IN THE CITY AND THEN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS STARTED REPORTING, NO, THEY'VE ACTUALLY GONE THROUGH THE CITY, THEY'VE GOT THE HEALTH INSPECTOR OUT THERE.

THEY'RE DOING EVERYTHING CAREFULLY IN THE WAY WE WANT THEM TO DO, AND THE REPUBLICAN IS JUST TALKING IT UP.

SO ONE OF THE NEWSPAPERS SAYING IT'S LIKE A HORROR SHOW, MAYBE ISN'T THE WHOLE STORY.

SO WE LOAD IT ON HERE.

IT GOES UNDER HERE.

PUT THAT THERE.

AND YOU SORT OF ROLL IT IN HERE.

AND THEN YOU TURN THE LITTLE KNOB.

THERE WE GO.

SO THIS IS THE DENVER TIMES.

THIS IS THE NEXT DAY AFTER THE WORK OF GHOULS WAS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE PREVIOUS-- OF THE OTHER NEWSPAPER.

BUT THIS IS THE DENVER TIMES AND IT DOESN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING.

YEAH, THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE CEMETERY.

SO SOME NEWSPAPERS WERE COMMENTING AND OTHERS WERE NOT.

AND YOU WOULD THINK, I MEAN, THIS WAS THE FRONT PAGE OF THE DENVER REPUBLICAN, YOU WOULD THINK THIS WOULD BE A MAJOR STORY.

THIS WAS LIKE PART OF THE WHOLE 19TH CENTURY NEWSPAPERS ALL HAD LIKE A POLITICAL BIAS AND THEY HAD GOALS THAT WERE RELATED TO SELLING NEWSPAPERS, RIGHT?

SO THE REPUBLICAN WAS BACKING ONE SIDE AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS WAS BACKING THE OTHER SIDE AND HAVING A SENSATIONALIST HEADLINE WAS GOING TO SELL MORE NEWSPAPERS AND THE PROBLEM WITH THE WORK OF GHOULS ARTICLE IS IT'S A REALLY GOOD STORY AND SO IF YOU'RE RUNNING A GHOST TOUR, THAT WORK OF GHOULS ARTICLE IS RIGHT IN YOUR SWEET SPOT.

YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

AND SO PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR AT LEAST 40 YEARS.

- NOW NO SOONER HAD THE BONES BEEN DISTURBED PEOPLE STARTED TO REPORT ALL KINDS OF STRANGE THINGS IN THE AREA.

THERE WERE SCREAMS, CRIES, AND WAILS COMING FROM THE OPEN GRAVES.

APPARITIONS APPEARING IN PEOPLE'S MIRRORS.

CONFUSED AS TO WHERE THEY WERE.

- SO BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE CAUSING A KERFUFFLE AND THERE WAS LIKE KIND OF OUTRAGE IN THE COMMUNITY, MCGOVERN AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE DECIDED TO JUST STOP ALL THE WORK.

AND MR.

VAN HORN BECAME THE MAYOR AND HE DECIDED TO JUST PLOW THE WHOLE THING UNDER AND MAKE IT A PARK.

AND I THINK THE ESTIMATE THAT I'VE SEEN IS LIKE 3,000 BODIES WERE LEFT AT THE END OF THE PROCESS.

I MEAN, THEY STILL FIND THINGS THERE OCCASIONALLY WHEN THEY'RE LIKE EXPANDING AN IRRIGATION LINE OR SOMETHING.

- I HAVE BEEN WITH DENVER PARKS FOR 15 YEARS, AND THAT'S THE FUN PART AND THE EXCITING PART ABOUT WORKING OUT HERE, YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO FIND.

MY NAME'S KENT SONDGERATH.

I'M A DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISOR WITH DENVER PARKS.

AND ONE OF MY FIRST PROJECTS I DID WAS CHEESMAN PARK.

WE FOUND A TOTAL OF EIGHT BODIES WHEN WE WERE DOING CONSTRUCTION.

ONE OF THE BODIES THAT WE DID FIND OVER HERE IS WHAT I SAY IS A REALLY LARGE SKULL.

AND IT WAS RIGHT DOWN HERE IN THE NORTH SIDE OF THE PAVILION AROUND THE ROSE GARDEN.

AND THE CREW FOUND IT WHEN THEY WERE PUTTING IN AN IRRIGATION LINE JUST UNDER THESE EXISTING WALKS.

SO THERE USED TO BE THESE REALLY GRAND WALLS AROUND THE FRONT SIDE OF THE PAVILION.

AND I GUESS THEY STARTED TO DETERIORATE AND FALL APART SO THE DECISION WAS MADE TO JUST REMOVE THEM.

AND THEN WHEN THEY DID THAT, THEY TERRACED A LOT OF THIS DOWN AND MADE THESE GARDENS OVER HERE.

SO WHEN WE WERE DOING CONSTRUCTION IN HERE AND REPLACING SOME OF THESE WALKS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THIS IS WHERE WE FOUND MOST OF THE BODIES BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL SHALLOWER.

BECAUSE AT ONE POINT THEY WERE BURIED UNDER SIX FEET OF SOIL, BUT AFTER THEY DECIDED TO TERRACE ALL THIS, OBVIOUSLY IT MADE THOSE GRAVES A LOT SHALLOWER.

- SO I'M HOLDING A PICTURE OF THE CHEESMAN MEMORIAL HERE AT THE PARK AT NIGHT.

THIS ENTIRE BALUSTRADE HERE WAS REMOVED.

IT HAD WORN QUITE TERRIBLY BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER AND BECAUSE OF THE TYPE OF MARBLE THAT WAS USED.

SO IN 1907, THIS PAVILION WAS COMMISSIONED BY MAYOR SPEER AT THE TIME HERE IN DENVER, AND IT CAME WITH A COST OF $100,000, WHICH IS ALSO KIND OF HARD TO BELIEVE BECAUSE IT'S A MASSIVE MARBLE PAVILION.

- CHEESMAN PARK WAS NAMED AFTER WALTER CHEESMAN, WHO WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF DENVER WATER.

AND THEN WHEN HE DIED, HIS WIFE DONATED WHAT WOULD BE TODAY $4 MILLION, WAS AT THE TIME $100,000 TO BUILD THE CHEESMAN MEMORIAL.

- SO THIS IS THE PAVILION AND ALL OF THE MARBLE IN THE PAVILION CAME FROM NEAR REDSTONE, COLORADO ON THE CRYSTAL RIVER.

AND THE VIEW THAT YOU SEE FROM CHEESMAN PARK IS MEANT TO BE A PANORAMA OF THE MOUNTAINS.

AND THEN IN THE 1960S, YOU GOT SOMETHING THAT I DON'T THINK PEOPLE INTENDED WITH THAT VIEWPLANE, AND THAT IS THAT BUILDING THE CHEESMAN GARDENS.

TODAY WE HAVE 14 VIEWPLANES IN THE CITY WHERE DEVELOPMENT COULD NOT EXCEED THE SKYLINE SO MUCH THAT YOU COULDN'T SEE A PANORAMIC VIEW.

AND IN THE 1960S, THE CITY ALLOWED A PERMIT TO START EXCAVATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF A FOUNDATION OF THIS BIG CONDO BUILDING CALLED CHEESMAN GARDENS.

AND QUICKLY AFTER THAT, THE DENVER CITY COUNCIL WENT AND ESTABLISHED ANOTHER ORDINANCE THAT WAS VERY SPECIFIC TO THE MEMORIAL.

SO IT WASN'T JUST THE VIEW PLANE THAT COVERED MOST OF THE PARK AND THE BOTANIC GARDEN.

IT WAS THE VIEW FROM THIS MEMORIAL NEEDS TO BE PRESERVED.

[MUSIC] I THINK WHEN PEOPLE THINK ABOUT PARKS AND PLANNING FOR PARKS, THEY OFTEN THINK OF THE OUTCOMES, BUT THEY MAY NOT CONSIDER HOW CERTAIN LAWS IN THE CITY AROUND LAND USE IMPACT THOSE PARKS.

AND IN THE 1960S, BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE DENVER ZONING LAWS THAT ENABLED MULTI UNIT BUILDINGS TO BE BUILT BETWEEN CIVIC CENTER AND CHEESMAN PARK, THAT AREA REALLY FILLED UP WITH PEOPLE WHO WERE YOUNG WHO WERE NEW TO THE CITY.

- THE CHEESMAN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD WAS AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY AT THAT TIME.

AND IT WAS A PLACE WHERE A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIVED, A LOT OF GAY PEOPLE LIVED.

IT WAS CLOSE TO A LOT OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT THE BABY BOOM GENERATION WAS ALL ABOUT.

- DENVER, BEING VERY SIMILAR TO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, WERE KIND OF WORRIED ABOUT WHAT IT MEANT TO HAVE NEWER CROPS OF PEOPLE COMING HERE.

SO IN 1956, DENVER ENACTED A ZONING DESIGNATION CALLED R-0.

PEOPLE KIND OF SHORTHANDED IT AND CALLED IT THE SINGLE -FAMILY ZONING IN DENVER.

AND AT THE TIME THERE WAS R-0, R-1, R-2, R-3, UP TO R-4.

AND THOSE REPRESENT A DENSITY AMOUNT.

SO COULD YOU BUILD JUST A SINGLE FAMILY HOME OR COULD YOU BUILD, YOU KNOW, A TALL APARTMENT BUILDING?

AND R -0 WAS THE MOST RESTRICTIVE.

YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE ANY RENTERS, SO THERE COULD BE NO UNRELATED PEOPLE.

AND THE CITY DEFINED RELATED PEOPLE AS BEING BY BLOOD, MARRIAGE, OR ADOPTION.

AND OF COURSE, IN 1956, THERE WASN'T LEGAL GAY MARRIAGE.

AND R -0 ZONING COVERED ABOUT 60% OF DENVER'S RESIDENTIAL AREAS AT THE TIME.

- NOW, CAPITOL HILL AND THE CHEESMAN PARK NEIGHBORHOOD WAS NOT ZONED THAT WAY.

SO IT WAS AN AREA THAT THERE WAS A HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF GAY PEOPLE, AND EVEN PEOPLE WHO DID NOT LIVE NEAR CHEESMAN PARK KNEW THAT IF YOU WANTED TO MEET PEOPLE WHO WERE GAY, YOU COULD GO TO CHEESMAN PARK.

- THESE OUTDOOR SPACES BECAME A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE COULD GO AND MEET SOMEBODY WITH SOME ANONYMITY BECAUSE IT WAS ILLEGAL TO SHOW ANY FORMS OF AFFECTION BETWEEN SAME SEX COUPLES IN PUBLIC.

YOU COULDN'T MEET PEOPLE IN TRADITIONAL WAYS, AND SO EVERYBODY KIND OF GRAVITATED TOWARDS THIS PARK.

SO IN 1974 A GROUP OF PEOPLE DECIDED TO COMMEMORATE THE STONEWALL UPRISING HERE IN DENVER.

AND SO IT WAS ABOUT 50 PEOPLE.

THEY MET AT CHEESMAN PARK UP TOWARDS THE PAVILION BECAUSE, AGAIN, I THINK IT WAS ITS LOCATION.

EVERYBODY COULD GET THERE.

THEN THE SECOND ONE IN 1975 WAS ALSO HELD AT CHEESMAN PARK AGAIN.

THAT ONE DREW A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE.

- OH, HERE IT IS, THIS POSTER FROM 1975 ADVERTISING THE SECOND GAY- IN ON SUNDAY, JUNE 29TH, 1975.

AND IT SAYS HERE THAT THERE WERE GAY OLYMPICS, THERE WAS A BICYCLE RACE, ARTS AND CRAFTS, AND IT SAID IT WENT FROM 12 NOON TO QUESTION MARK.

AND I WASN'T THERE, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG IT WENT.

MY NAME IS PHIL NASH, AND I RECENTLY WROTE A BOOK ENTITLED LGBTQ DENVER.

I CAME TO DENVER IN 1976 WITH A MAN THAT'S NOW MY HUSBAND BOB JANOWSKI, AND WE ARE HERE IN MY HOME, IN A CONDOMINIUM BUILDING ON THE NORTH END OF CHEESMAN PARK.

HERE'S ANOTHER PICTURE FROM THE 1976 PARADE.

THIS IS, THE FIRST PICTURE HERE IS OF THE LINEUP AND THE PEOPLE WHO WERE HEADING UP THE PARADE.

1976 WAS WHEN THE FIRST PARADE PERMIT WAS PULLED.

THE FIRST MARCH FORMED RIGHT OUTSIDE HERE, RIGHT OUTSIDE THIS BUILDING.

AND EVER SINCE THEN, THE PRIDE PARADE IS KICKED OFF IN CHEESMAN PARK.

- HAPPY PRIDE!

- SAY HAPPY PRIDE.

- HAPPY PRIDE!

- EVERY YEAR THE PRIDE FEST PARADE BEGINS AT CHEESMAN PARK, GOES DOWN FRANKLIN, THEN DOWN COLFAX TO CIVIC CENTER.

AND EVER SINCE THEN, IT'S JUST BEEN GOING UP TO, I THINK OVER THE ENTIRE WEEKEND NOW, THEY GET OVER 500,000.

[PARADE DRUMLINE] - WHO WANTS THE THREAD?

ANYBODY WANT TO THREAD?

- THE ANNUAL PRIDE PARADE IS A CELEBRATION OF WHO WE ARE.

IT'S ONE TIME A YEAR WE CAN ALL GET TOGETHER.

I GO ON BOTH DAYS AND I JUST LIKE TO WALK AROUND AND PEOPLE WATCH.

- GOOD TO SEE YOU, PHIL.

HOW ARE YOU?

WHERE WE'RE MEANT TO BE.

- THE THING I LIKE MOST ABOUT DENVER'S PRIDE EVENT IS THAT THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY INVENTING THEIR OWN IDENTITY.

I JUST LOVE THE DIVERSITY THAT I SEE ON PRIDE WEEKENDS.

YOU HAVE PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, OF ALL DIFFERENT COLORS, YOU HAVE RURAL PEOPLE AND PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST OUT TO MAKE A STATEMENT WITH THEIR COSTUMES.

- I LOVE SEEING EVERYONE OUT THERE JUST CELEBRATING IN THE WAYS THAT THEY FEEL SAFE DOING.

AND IT'S A SPACE WHERE WE CAN OUTWARDLY IN COMMUNITY CELEBRATE WHO WE ARE.

MY NAME IS NADINE BRIDGES AND I AM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ONE COLORADO, WHICH IS OUR STATE'S LEADING LGBTQ ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION.

- HOW ARE YOU?

- HOW ARE YOU?

- BUT IF YOU DO HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO ASK ONE OF US, AND HAPPY PRIDE.

- THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP ON THAT DAY TO MARCH IN THE PARADE, BUT TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE COME TOGETHER AND AS A TOUCH POINT AND A STARTING POINT OF THIS RALLY CALL THAT STARTED IN THE 70S AND CONTINUES INTO THE 2020S IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

- SO THE FIRST PARADE STARTED RIGHT WHERE WE ARE HERE TODAY AT GILPIN AND 12TH AVENUE AS IT RUNS THROUGH CHEESMAN PARK.

CHEESMAN PARK HAS CHANGED A LOT OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS.

IT HAS BECOME MUCH MORE OF A PEDESTRIAN ORIENTED PARK TODAY THAN IT WAS BACK IN THE 1970S.

BACK THEN, THERE WOULD BE CARS GOING AROUND AND AROUND AND AROUND.

- CHEESMAN PARK WAS ALSO KNOWN AS A HUGE CRUISING AREA FOR GAY MEN.

YOU COULD DRIVE ALL THE WAY AROUND IT.

AND SO WHAT PEOPLE WOULD DO IS THEY WOULD PARK AROUND IT AND THEN DRIVERS WOULD DRIVE THE OPPOSITE WAY SO YOU COULD CHECK OUT GUYS IN THE OTHER CARS AND YOU COULD START TALKING TO THEM THEN OR HAVE THEM HOP IN YOUR CAR AND TALK TO THEM AND THAT'S-- CHEESMAN PARK WAS KNOWN FOR THAT.

- I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS WORKING AT OUTFRONT IN THE EARLY 1980S, I THINK SOME TENSIONS DEVELOPED AROUND THE CAR CRUISING WHERE BEHAVIORS THAT WERE NORMALLY OUGHT TO BE IN PRIVATE OUT IN PUBLIC BECAUSE THERE WERE FEW PLACES THAT PEOPLE COULD GO.

- IN THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND PARTICULARLY FOR GAY MEN BUT NOT JUST GAY MEN THERE WERE ALWAYS UNDERGROUND AREAS WHERE WE HAD TO MEET TO FEEL SAFE.

AND THERE WAS A TIME PERIOD IN OUR NATION WHERE THERE WERE REGULAR RAIDS ON LGBTQ COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND INTENTIONAL POSTS IN THE NEWSPAPER.

SO IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE A PLACE WHERE WE CAN BE SEEN AND HEARD AND PROTECTED WHERE WE CAN LOVE OPENLY EXPRESS OUR GENDER AND ALL OF ITS RENDITIONS WITHOUT BEING VILIFIED OR HARMED.

- I THINK PRIDE EVENTS ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE ARE ALWAYS A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE FOR WHOM IT'S THE FIRST TIME.

AND IT IS JUST UPLIFTING TO SEE THAT YOU ARE A PART OF SOMETHING SO MUCH BIGGER THAN WHAT YOU'VE EVER BEEN TOLD OR WHAT YOU MAY HAVE EVER IMAGINED.

- I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT WE ALL DESERVE TO BE HERE.

WE ALL DESERVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THRIVE AND TO HAVE JOY AND TO LET FOLKS KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT'S NEGATIVE GOING ON OUT THERE, WE'RE ALL STILL TOGETHER.

[PARADE DRUMLINE] - HOW ARE YOU, NADINE?

- HAPPY PRIDE.

HAPPY PRIDE.

WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU.

- IT'S SO WONDERFUL TO SEE YOU.

- RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A LOT OF PUSHBACK ON THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY POLITICALLY AND SOCIALLY.

AND THE CLARION CALL TO ALL OF US IS TO BE OUT, TO BE VISIBLE, AND TO NOT LET OURSELVES BE ERASED.

[LAUGHING] - ALL RIGHT, I LOVE YOU.

HAPPY PRIDE.

- ALL RIGHT, HAPPY PRIDE.

THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO.

- HAPPY PRIDE!

- HAPPY PRIDE!

- ANYTIME THAT YOU GO TO A COMMUNITY AND YOU FEEL LIKE IT'S YOUR COMMUNITY YOU KNOW YOUR SHOULDERS KIND OF DROP A LITTLE BIT AND YOU FEEL SAFE AND CHEESMAN PARK IS A PART OF THAT.

SO IT'S STILL BECOME A SAFE ZONE AND STILL IT IS A SAFE ZONE TO THE COMMUNITY.

- I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THIS HISTORY ABOUT CHEESMAN PARK BECAUSE IT WAS SO IMPORTANT PEOPLE MET THERE, PEOPLE FELT SAFE THERE.

- LET'S SEE.

THE HISTORY OF CHEESMAN PARK IS IMPORTANT JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE HISTORY OF DENVER, AND IT'S THE HISTORY OF UNDERSTANDING YOUR COMMUNITY AND WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST.

IT GIVES PEOPLE A SENSE OF PLACE.

- TO ME, CHEESMAN REALLY IS ONE OF THOSE PLACES WHERE EVERYONE CAN FIND SOMETHING HERE.

YOU CAN GET LOST IN CHEESMAN PARK.

IT'S VERY EASY TO KIND OF WEND YOUR WAY THROUGH THE TREES AND BE A LITTLE SECLUDED.

BUT YOU CAN ALSO BE VERY VISIBLE HERE AND YOU CAN TRY NEW THINGS HERE AND YOU CAN CELEBRATE YOUR LIFE HERE.

- YOU SEE A LOT OF LIFE FROM UP HERE.

OFTEN WE'LL SEE PEOPLE OUT THERE PRACTICING YOGA OR PLAYING WITH THEIR DOGS.

I CAN LOOK DOWN THERE SOMETIMES AND EVEN RECOGNIZE NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS THAT ARE OUT TAKING A WALK OR JUST ENJOYING THE PARK.

CHEESMAN PARK, IT'S ONE THAT FEELS VERY INTIMATE.

THESE PARKS ARE PART OF OUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

THEY'RE RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW.

THEY'RE RIGHT DOWN THE STREET.

AND THAT REALLY SPEAKS TO THE CONNECTION OF PEOPLE TO NATURE AND THE ABILITY TO RELATE TO THE ANIMALS THAT LIVE IN THE PARK, TO THE PLANTS, AND TO THE SEASONS.

TO THE TIMES WHEN THERE'S SNOW, TO THE TIMES WHEN THERE ARE FALLING LEAVES.

IT REALLY BRINGS NATURE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN A VERY DENSE ENVIRONMENT.

AND IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING.