In 1981, Bill Erickson and his future husband, John Burke, joined members of the LGBTQ+ Chiltern MountainClub for the Pride march in Boston.In the photo Erickson and Burke shared for Pride in Pictures, the young couple, 23 and 33 at the time, can be seen at the lower right, just over the shoulders of their fellow club member in the Clash t-shirt. The pic was captured by a friend from the Charles Street overpass along the march route. Related Ann Willoughby & Barb Goldstein have been together for 43 years & they still celebrate Pride The couple became posterchildren for marriage rights in 2012. Back in the beginning of the Pride marches, it was more of an in-your-face, Were here, were queer, get used to us event, Erickson tells LGBTQ Nation of those early protests. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today I certainly prefer the celebration atmosphere we had been seeing for so many years.Unfortunately, its going back towards protests I never thought wed be back fighting for our lives again. But here we are.The couple met the year before the march when Erickson was helping a friend move out of his apartment in Boston, and Burke was helping a friend move in.Bill Erickson and John Burke joined their outdoor adventure club for Bostons Pride march in 1981 | Provided by John Burke Our paths crossed.We decided to live together on July 4, 1980. Independence Day or Co-dependence day? Erickson asks, sharing a 22-year-olds commitment issues.The pair celebrates 45 years together next month, and theyve been married for twelve of them.We were visiting Sedona, Arizona, in 2006 when I proposed to John that if and when it became legal for us to marry, would he marry me? And he said yes.The couple, now 67 and 77, married in 2013 at their home in Palm Springs, where theyre both retired from the tech industry.Asked about the Gay Liberation movement at the time of their Boston march versus the fight for LGBTQ+ rights now, Erickson says, We were determined to make things better, and I believe we did. Unfortunately, the younger generation will need to continue that fight to maintain those rights.They have a head start that his generation didnt enjoy, Erickson adds, sharing a story from one of the couples annual summer road trips.John and I and our three dogs are traveling in our RV cross country. On June 7, 2025, we were passing through Rock Springs, Wyoming, and attended their Pride Fest. It was a small, grassroots gathering, which I was told has grown over the last few years. There was no march, but there was a festival in the city park. One thing that stood out to us was the number of straight people who were there, and the number of families in attendance those families being gay couples and their children, and straight couples and their children.While there were no protests that day in Wyoming, for or against the rights that LGBTQ+ people have earned since the couple marched in Boston 44 years ago, Erickson says that he and his husband have the younger generations backs in their own march for equality.We will be there to fight alongside them, he says.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.