Happy Pride Month!
As we celebrate with parades, parties and more, it’s important to remember why we celebrate Pride – to honor the LGBTQ community and to continue fighting for the equality they deserve.
Remember, Pride started as a riot. In the 1960s, LGBTQ individuals relied on gay bars and clubs as the only places to openly express themselves and find acceptance.
One of the most famous examples, The Stonewall Inn, was an NYC refuge for the LGBTQ community. Being outwardly homosexual was still considered illegal (kissing, dancing with, or even holding hands with someone of the same sex was forbidden), so safe spaces like these were crucial. However, this also made them prone to police raids, and on June 28, 1969, The Stonewall Inn was raided.
Police officers entered the club, confiscating bootlegged alcohol, roughing up patrons, and arresting 13 people. Having endured this harassment and discrimination for too long, patrons and neighborhood residents remained outside the bar and fought back. The crowd threw bottles, cobble stones, and whatever else they could find to defend themselves, growing into a 6-day riot.
In the years after the Stonewall Uprising, marches and celebrations of the LGBTQ community started popping up all across the United States that still continue to this day. While we have come a long way since 1969, today’s Pride month still serves as a reminder of what has been accomplished and the work to be done.
Your actions matter: use this time to support individuals and organizations around you that help the LGBTQ community. Join us in lifting up The Trevor Project and all they do to support LGBTQ youth. Pride is only one month, but spreading love and supporting others is a way of life.
Sources:
https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/stonewall-era
https://www.loc.gov/ghe/cascade/index.html?appid=90dcc35abb714a24914c68c9654adb67
https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/
https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots
https://www.history.com/news/stonewall-riots-timeline
