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| Photo by Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash |
When we think of Pride Month, it’s only natural that we picture extraordinary displays of rainbows, music, and dance as the more flamboyant among us lead thousands of LGBT+ people and their allies through crowds and crowds of dazzled onlookers. It can be difficult to remember why exactly we celebrate Pride this way, on this month. The history of Pride Marches is far more sombre than these colourful parades let on.
Up until the Sexual Offences Act in 1967, homosexuality had been illegal for centuries. It was common practice for any man or woman caught with a person of the same gender, or even wearing clothes of the opposite gender, to be arrested.
Because of this illegality, there were very few places for LGBT+ people to go, with many gay bars owned by criminal organisations. The most infamous of these bars is the Stonewall Inn, located in Christopher Street in Manhattan, New York.
On the last Saturday of June in 1969, a routine police raid of the Stonewall Inn went array. The usually placated patrons began to resist co-operation, leading to an en masse arrest in the streets. What started as a spectacle turned into an uprising and then a full-blown riot as gathering crowds began to throw pennies, then rocks at the police. The night was one of violence, ending in Stonewall being set on fire. Six days of protests, marches, and violent clashes followed the riot at Stonewall, led by LGBT+ Activists Martha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
Contrary to popular belief, Pride as we know it did not start here. The first ‘Pride Parades’ actually took place a year later, purposely timed to remind the public of the riot at Stonewall.
The San Francisco Gay Liberation Front led nearly 30 people on a march from the Aquatic Park to the Civic Center on June 27, 1970, then hosted the “Christopher Street Liberation Day Gay-In" that brought nearly 200 people to Golden Gate Park.
Christopher Street West, in Los Angeles, fought for their permit to march down Hollywood Boulevard after the Los Angeles Police Chief said, “As far as I’m concerned, granting a permit to a group of homosexuals... would be the same as giving a permit to a group of thieves and robbers.”
The marchers convened on McCadden Place in Hollywood, marched north and turned east onto Hollywood Boulevard. The Advocate reported "Over 1,000 homosexuals and their friends staged, not just a protest march, but a full-blown parade down world-famous Hollywood Boulevard."
New York’s own Pride march - led by members of the Homophile Youth Movement and Lavender Menace - was the most impressive. What started as a few hundred people in front of the Stonewall Inn grew to thousands of marchers by the time the parade had reached Central Park’s Sheep’s Meadow.
In decades since, LGBT+ Pride has always been a time of both celebration and education. Pride gives members of their communities a chance to celebrate and embrace themselves, their lives, their love, their contributions to society, and how far LGBT+ Rights have come since 1969. But we can’t deny Pride Celebrations their place as teaching moments. Homophobia and Transphobia have cost thousands of lives throughout the years; from conversion therapies, to hate crimes, to the purposeful inaction during the AIDS Crisis.
Pride Month gives us all an opportunity to come together and show how much we value acceptance and equality in society. Preach a little love this June and put a brighter rainbow in the sky for all of us.
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