LGBTQ+ Pride History

The annual June gay pride parade is getting bigger every year. What was once considered as an event that mostly catered to members of the LGBTQ+ community now draws participants from other groups. Today, people who identify as LGBTQ+ celebrate pride with non-LGBTQ+ advocates such as friends, families, and even public and private organizations. But as much as gay pride is about love and self-acceptance, not everyone knows its history . Few people are aware that this event traces its roots to less festive and more turbulent times. In particular, gay pride emerged as the consequence of the community to finally assert their freedom and equality in the face of oppression.

The Stonewall Inn Riots

The LGBTQ+ community’s struggle for freedom and equality dates back further than the 20^th century. However, most scholars today agree that gay pride in its current form can be traced to the pivotal Stonewall Inn riots in 1969. Before the 1960s, American society’s attitude towards homosexuality was largely repressive. Not only were their laws that criminalized homosexuality, but gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals were frequent targets for harassment.

Stonewall Inn was a popular club in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. It was considered as a place that welcomed the most marginalized members of the gay community such as drag queens, transgender people, and homeless youth. Clubs like the Stonewall were often raided by police, and gays, lesbians, and transgender people were often arrested for cross-dressing. Such gender non-conforming people were thought of as ill and pathetic. But the raid that occurred on June 28, 1969, was different. This time, the marginalized community decided to fight back. For the next few days, patrons of the Stonewall and their supporters rioted against the abuses, thus sparking a movement that would spread across the country and the rest of the globe.

The Pride Marches and Parades

While the riots ended after a few days, it sparked widespread awareness of the mistreatment gays, lesbians, and other gender non-conforming groups. Stonewall is widely regarded as a watershed moment—an occurrence of extreme importance in the gay liberation movement. Homosexuals and their advocates started gay liberation groups such as the Gay Liberation Front. On June 27-28, 1970, on the first anniversary of the riots, various gay liberation groups held marches in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago. Over the years, these marches became more regular and spread across the United States and other countries as well. Cities started organizing their own pride marches and parades. The first events were small and faced considerable backlash. But the opposition did not deter such groups. Through bravery and the support of others, these marches and parades grew until they became fixtures of cities anticipated by LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ communities alike. Today, pride parades are held every June around the world and are attended by millions of people. Parades in New York for instance customarily draw millions of participants. 

Pride as an Expression of Freedom and Equality

While the first pride parades were organized to commemorate Stonewall, it has also taken on various meanings and purposes over the decades. Perhaps the most prominent of these how pride now stands as an expression of freedom and equality. Having been oppressed for centuries, the LGBTQ+ community and advocates now conduct pride parades to assert their freedom and equality. Furthermore, these pride parades are held as a celebration of diversity, identity, self-acceptance, achievements, and legal rights among others.

Pride as a Platform Today

Beyond being commemorative and celebratory events, pride parades have also always been a platform for advancing equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Despite being joyous and colorful events, pride parades have always been used as a protest against discrimination and repression. They still are. In fact, some of the earlier pride events integrated protests to raise awareness of ill-treatment. Many societies have come to embrace LGBTQ+ identities. Victories have been won in many countries, including the right to marry and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex and gender . However, much needs to be done as many LGBTQ+ people still face oppression in many societies. Anti-LGBTQ+ laws, homophobia, stigma, and violence are only some of the myriad of issues endured by countless people. While complete equality and freedom are yet to be attained, pride parades will continue to be events for celebration and calling the action. As people look forward to future pride, one must always take the time to reflect on how this massive movement was sparked by a group of marginalized people who finally decided to fight back.

Some sectors in society regard consider LGBTQ rights as controversial. LGBTQ rights should shed off the "controversial" tag because quite simply, LGBTQ rights are human rights. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation should be labeled appropriately - a sad and wicked anachronism in today's enlightened times. Society has come a long way since the marginalization of the LGBTQ community and regression is simply unimaginably vile, and insult to human dignity. Education about the LGBTQ community is a boon to everyone, especially students who are in their formative years, for they are tomorrow's leaders. At times they might feel too caught up with homework  and class to care about these issues, but they deserve to understand and have a say on the matter. 

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