PRIDE MONTH COMMEMORATION A History of Pride

Pride is the opposite of Shame. The gay pride movement grew out of the need for a community repressed for centuries to finally say to the world that enough is enough--enough shame, enough hurt, enough persecution. The 1960s were turbulent times on many fronts from the Vietnam War to race wars. The attacks against the LGBTQ community were no exception. In 1969, police raids on gay establishments were commonplace, and in Los Angeles at Cooper Do-nuts and in San Francisco at Compton’s Cafeteria, people began fighting back. These were among the first riots that led to the modern-day Gay Pride Movement. The most famous riot took place in New York City at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, on a hot, steamy night in June. Legend has it that bargoers had gathered to mourn the death of Judy Garland and when the NYPD raided the Stonewall with their “Public Moral Squad” checking the sex of bar customers by physical examination, they’d simply had enough. A riot ensued and for many nights afterward, they continued to fight with and confront the police in the streets.

The following year, momentum had built and a “Gay Pride” march from Christopher Street, where the Stonewall Inn was located, to Central Park was organized. The movement soon expanded to other cities and eventually across the world with parades and marches held in every major city across the globe, even in rural areas. Although Pride month is traditionally June, other cities where weather and location play a factor have adopted months such as September or January for example, in which to celebrate.

As Pride month may seem and feel like a celebration to many in 2022, it’s rooted in protest against the shaming, degradation, and persecution of an entire group of people simply for their differences of sexual identity. Much progress has been made to promote understanding and extend equality to all, but much work remains to be done. Prejudice and violence against the LGBTQ community is still very prevalent today and we must do all we can to teach love and acceptance for everyone, regardless of who they are born to be.

-Timothy J. Brumfield