Pride Month for someone part of the LGBTQ+ community is a time to shout, whether on the inside or out, “I am proud of who I am!” There are also ways to celebrate Pride as an ally too. The celebration kicked off at that symbol of resistance – the Stonewall Inn. Just one year later, in June 1970, the first NYC gay pride parade marched across the streets. For a full week after Stonewall, the LGBT community, including drag queens and gay cheerleaders, demonstrated and skirmished with the cops. They arrested 13 people, and when a woman cried out “Why don’t you guys do something?” the patrons rose into action.īottles were thrown and a police standoff followed, with riot police called in.
WHY IS GAY PRIDE MONTH IN JUNE CRACKED
On June 27th, 1969, police cracked down and burst into the Stonewall Inn, one of these underground establishments.
This didn’t stop communities from forming – but they had to be created in “illegal” saloons that could only stay open through bribes, blind eyes, or mafia protection. In the 1960s, New York City would refuse liquor licenses to bars that served people who were openly gay. As we finish off Pride Month, some of our readers might wonder why Pride Month begins in June and what’s it all about? When Obama was the first President to officially declare “Pride Month” on this specific date, was he spinning a wheel that simply landed on a “6”? Of course not: Pride month’s genesis, along with the gay rights movement, can be traced to the Stonewall Inn.