LGBT Pride Month

“Gay Liberation,” a sculpture created by George Segal, stands in Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn to commemorate the riots and the movement they kickstarted.
The Stonewall Inn decorated for Pride Month.

 

June is LGBTQ Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969. Many Pride events are held during this month all over the world to recognize the courage of these early activists and celebrate the LGBTQ community.

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

In the 1950s and 1960s, very few establishments welcomed openly LGBTQ people. Those that did were often bars like the Stonewall Inn, which catered to an assortment of patrons and was known to be popular among the poorest and most marginalized people in the gay community, particularly LGBTQ people of color.

Police frequently raided LGBTQ-friendly establishments, especially bars. Police assaulting and soliciting bribes from visibly gender nonconforming people to avoid arrest and violence were commonplace – as were bullying, worse assaults, and arrest and holding without charges if folks didn’t offer up the money.

But something different happened on June 28. Folks at the Stonewall – mostly Black and brown LGBTQ folks – had had enough, and they started fighting back. The police lost control of the situation.  What started out as one of the usual raids on the Stonewall became a riot. Tensions between New York City police and LGBTQ residents of Greenwich Village erupted into more protests the next evening, and again several nights later. LGBTQ rights activism had been happening in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other cities for years, but within weeks of the Stonewall riots, it caught fire. Inspired by the riots, the resulting protests, and the feeling of something important beginning, more and more LGBTQ people came out, joined activist groups, worked to create safe spaces where they could freely express their sexual orientation and their gender identities without fear of police harassment and violence, and began advocating for legal equality and protection.

The Stonewall riots are widely considered the flashpoint for the LGBTQ rights movement in the US. The first Pride march was held in commemoration one year later – actually in Chicago, not New York City! Chicago Gay Liberation held their march on Saturday because more folks would be out and about near the parade route on Saturday. On Sunday, June 28, 1970, Pride marches or events were held in NYC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

Here in Portland, the first Pride community fair was in 1975, with the first Pride Parade following in 1977. WHUUF marches every year with a big group of UU folks. We’re proud to be part of this four-decade tradition of celebrating love, the inherent dignity and worth of each LGBTQ person, the courage of those who came before us, and the joy of beloved community. See you at Pride!

Resources to help you learn more: