Bar owners and restaurants in the Oak Lawn-Cedar Springs neighborhood are gearing up for their busiest weekend of the year.
An estimated crowd of 45,000 is expected to take in the festivities for Dallas PRIDE Sunday.
The Heineken Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade will step off at 2 p.m. along Cedar Springs Road to Turtle Creek Boulevard.
The Miller Lite Festival in the Park will run from noon to 7 p.m. at Reverchon Park.
Many LGBT-friendly nightclubs and restaurants in the neighborhood were busy all afternoon Friday unloading shipments of water, food, beer and liquor.
Kathy Jack, who runs Sue Ellen's bar off Cedar Springs Road, says every year she sees more out-of-towners coming to Dallas specifically for this weekend.
"I've seen it change in that there are a lot more straight people that come down here with their families," she said. "And we've had more out-of-towners the last two years alone than we've ever had before."
She says it's a sign of progress, and growing acceptance.
"Everybody parties together now, which is the way it should have been a long time ago. But in the last few years, I've noticed a big difference," she said, unloading vodka bottles in the back storage room.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The parade's history stretches back to 1972 – three years after the Stonewall Riots – and the LGBTQ community in Dallas was subject to harassment and acts of violence. Infighting within the community sidelined the event for eight years after the inaugural celebration.
In 1983, the Dallas Tavern Guild, an organization made up of gay and lesbian bar owners, took over organizing duties. The group's current executive director, Michael Doughman, said that parade was part celebration part political rally.
"A couple of community organizations wanted to be there to handout, mostly, human rights materials and, in those days, a lot of AIDS and HIV information," said Doughman. "Most of the people that were in the parade were activists, people with a message and a voice about AIDS and HIV and about equality."
By the 1990s, when the world had come to grips with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the parade's focus shifted to breaking down the barriers of inequality.
"It was a very different time, and this was almost a defiant way, if you will, of pushing back against the heterosexual norms," said Rafael McDonnell, communications and advocacy manager for Resource Center. "I was participating in Pride parades before I told my family I was gay and it was very empowering, very liberating."
Jeremy Liebbe, who is the security director for the 33rd annual event, said this week there are some stepped up security measures this year in light of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, as well as lingering concerns about a string of attacks on members of the LGBT community in Oak Lawn.
Liebbe emphasized, though, that increased police patrols – paid for by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban – along with the addition of multiple police security cameras in the area and a general increased level of communication, have helped to smooth over many fears.
“The community has been much more alert and much more prone to call 911, and I believe we are getting a much stronger relationship between the LGBT Community and the Dallas Police Department overall,” Liebbe said.
Liebbe said there will be at least 87 off-duty Dallas police officers working security during the parade and the festival, and that an additional 30-plus on-duty officers will be assigned to the day’s events.
"We've been working on this plan for more than a month. We have two different divisions involved," said Dallas Police Maj. Jimmy Vaughan. "Our plan for this year is that we've put a lot more muscle into this than last year. We recognize the events of Orlando and we want to make sure that people feel safe when they're out here."
Police noted that there's been a big change in PRIDE attendance in recent years.
"You see more families, more kids. More strollers especially," Vaughan said. "When you see strollers here, it puts a smile on your face, because you know people are bringing their families here. That is a positive thing. We encourage that."
Historically, Dallas PRIDE has been a safe event, according to Liebbe, who noted that there have consistently been an exceedingly low number of arrests, which typically range from zero to four.
“This is a good event. This is a safe event,” Liebbe said. “It is hard to get a gathering of 40,000 people, especially where many of them are drinking, and have zero to four arrests at the entire event.”
Police noted that violent crime – attacks, robberies and assaults – has seen a dramatic drop in recent weeks thanks to an increase in late-night foot patrols and new surveillance cameras.
"We will have many officers here, all night long," Maj. Vaughan said. "And really, if someone leaving the bar is worried about walking home or walking to a friend's house, given some of the attacks that happened last year, we really encourage them to ask an officer for help, to walk with them."
This year's grand marshal is Burke Burnett, a legally married gay man with two kids.d
"We've made such awesome strides, I'm really looking forward to what the next 10 years have to bring," said Burnett.
New for this year, Dallas PRIDE has instituted a clear bag policy for the festival, meaning purses and backpacks will not be allowed. The policy mirrors that of venues like AT&T Stadium.
NBC 5's Ben Russell, Jeff Smith and Cory Smith contributed to this report.
