June is Pride Month. It's a time of celebration and remembrance for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout the month, people gather in parades, parties, and special events to remember the work that has been done to support anyone who identifies as LGTBQ+. It's not been an easy road though. From the early days of fighting for acceptance during the Stonewall Inn riots to the modern-day work of fostering a safe environment for the trans community, LGBTQ+ people still work to ensure that everyone has equal rights and treatment under the law. As June continues and LGBTQ+ identity is celebrated, here's what you should know about Pride Month's history.
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00:00Every summer in the United States, the LGBTQ plus community comes together for a month-long
00:07celebration of love, acceptance, and unashamed self-pride. From the first battles against police
00:14to eating fire in front of the White House and even the origin of the term gay pride,
00:19this is what you should know about the history of Pride Month.
00:23On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York City,
00:30for operating without a liquor license. During those years, New York refused to give out
00:35permits to bars that served gay people, and that night, cops entered Stonewall with a warrant
00:41and arrested at least 13 people. Titus Montalvo, a hairdresser and makeup artist in the 1960s,
00:48told USA Today that the majority of those people at the Stonewall Inn were either drag queens or
00:54gay men of color. Trans activist Sylvia Rivera shared the same sentiment in the documentary
01:01The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.
01:04We're the ones that stood the forefront and fought the cops off, and we're the ones that
01:10didn't mind getting our heads bashed in."
01:12Raids and harassment were common for gay bars and nightclubs across the country during this time,
01:18but on this night, members of the LGBTQ Plus community stood up for themselves and fought
01:23back. This routine police raid triggered nights of intense rebellion and protests.
01:29The Stonewall Inn uprising has long been considered to have fundamentally changed the
01:34dialogue surrounding the LGBTQ Plus civil rights movement and why many cities hold pride events in
01:41June. A decade before New York City's Stonewall riots, a Los Angeles-based group of
01:47LGBTQ Plus individuals fed up with purported police mistreatment revolted at Cooper Donuts,
01:54a popular night spot for groups excluded from other establishments because of their sexual
01:59orientation. Historians have long considered that riot the first modern gay community uprising.
02:06During the 1950s, the Los Angeles Police Department was long reported to have abused
02:12LGBTQ Plus residents, even allegedly arresting them for simply gathering at the establishment.
02:18Author John Retchie, who experienced police abuse firsthand, wrote about the topic in his novel
02:25City of Night. As he described it,
02:27"...they interrogate you, fingerprint you without booking you — an illegal L.A. cop tactic to scare
02:34you from hanging around."
02:35On that evening in May, two officers allegedly visited the eatery and asked for the identification
02:41of several customers, including Retchie. Officers then reportedly proceeded to arrest them without
02:48cause. According to Out, patrons who apparently had enough of being oppressed attacked the cops
02:54with coffee, donuts, and plates until they had to leave and come back with backup to contain the
03:00uprising. On June 28, 1970, a year after the Stonewall riot, the first Gay Liberation March,
03:08dubbed the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, took place in New York City's
03:13Greenwich Village neighborhood. People gathered outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street
03:18and groups from all over the country came out to march in unity that day. People from Boston,
03:24Washington, D.C., and even organizations from universities such as Columbia, Rutgers, and Yale
03:30came to participate in the event.
03:33No, really, if great people can do all this carrying on and holding hands and kids in the
03:36park, why can't we do it? All right, they ain't no better than I am."
03:40When the transgender community came out to march, however, they were reportedly told
03:44by organizers to stand in the back, but they did not comply. Victoria Cruz, a queer transgender
03:51woman and former activist, recalled being shamed into marching in the back on that day over 50
03:57years ago. Cruz stated that members of the transgender community stuck up for themselves
04:03because they had fought just like everyone else. They refused to be hidden and, according to Cruz,
04:08shouted,
04:09"[Hell no, we won't go!] while marching alongside everyone else."
04:14Cruz noted that all those within the trans community who marched
04:18didn't attempt to segregate themselves. A similar march took place the same day in Los Angeles,
04:24and just a year later, Boston held their march. After that, gay liberation and pride events took
04:30place worldwide, including in cities such as London and Tel Aviv.
04:36In July 1969, the LGBTQ Plus community gathered in New York City for a rally initiated by activist
04:44and LGBTQ Plus ally Brenda Howard. While Howard herself was not at the bar the night of the riot,
04:51she did have friends who were, and after the insurrection, the Bronx native became
04:56an advocate for the neighborhood. A year later, Howard formed a committee to plan
05:01one of the country's first pride parades, the Christopher Street Liberation Day March.
05:06She has also been recognized for laying the foundation for Pride's week-long festivities
05:11that led up to the big modern-day parades that now take place worldwide.
05:16Howard was frequently called the Mother of Pride for her efforts.
05:21Howard's support didn't stop with the Christopher Street Liberation Day March.
05:25It continued for 30 years, and she became a lifelong revolutionary activist,
05:30participating in the feminist and anti-war crusades. Howard also participated in the
05:36Gay Liberation Front, where she served as a chair of the organization. Howard's partner,
05:41Larry Nelson, told The Advocate that she was the go-to person for coordinating a protest
05:47or a social justice event, and recalled,
05:50"'All you had to do was call her, and she'll just say when and where.'"
05:54The Greek letter lambda was chosen as the gay symbol when graphic designer Tom Doar and the
06:00rest of the New York chapter of the Gay Activist Alliance adopted it in 1970. A flyer created by
06:07the organization stated that the symbol was chosen to represent, quote,
06:12a commitment among men and women to achieve and defend their human rights as homosexual citizens.
06:19Since the organization sponsored events for the gay community,
06:22lambda quickly became a fast and easy way for other gay people to identify with one another.
06:29Those within the community also drew the lambda symbol on their outfits and signs,
06:33making it easy for the growing gay population to know that a gay event was happening.
06:39Activist Craig Shoemaker was a part of the group that came together to honor the Stonewall Riots
06:45with the Christopher Street Liberation Day March organization. When the committee was
06:50thinking of a slogan for their event, Shoemaker suggested the phrase,
06:54"'Pride.'" In a 2015 interview with The Illusionist, the activist spoke about how he
07:00conceived the popular slogan. He explained that there were several Pride-themed events
07:05taking place during one 1970 weekend, and the group wanted to collect all of the happenings
07:11under one label. Shoemaker shared that so many people were mightily oppressed during this time
07:17and didn't know how to be proud because they were conflicted within themselves.
07:22The phrase, "'Gay Power' didn't sit right with him because he felt that not everyone in the
07:27world possessed power. However, he did feel they could take pride in themselves.
07:32That's when he came up with, "'Gay Pride.'" Shoemaker thought that the feeling of self-esteem
07:37would make people more joyful, which in turn would help create the movement with hopes to
07:42spark change. According to Shoemaker, the committee took a vote and decided to call the weekend,
07:48"'Gay Pride Weekend.'" In his words, that's how the movement was most useful,
07:54because they thought,
07:55"'Maybe I should be proud.'"
07:58Over the past four decades, the Pride flag has been considered the universal symbol of the LGBTQ
08:04Plus movement. It's not uncommon to see rainbow flags flying outside bars and homes and pinned
08:10to shirts. The flag was designed and hand-sewn in 1978 by late artist and gay rights activist
08:17Gilbert Baker. San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, well known as an early pioneer
08:24of openly homosexual elected officials, hired Baker to create a new emblem for the city's first
08:31Gay Pride Day. At the time, the gay and lesbian political movement was symbolized by the pink
08:37triangle, a symbol hailing from the World War II era used by the Nazis as a mark to identify
08:42homosexuals. The flag initially consisted of eight colors, all of which Baker assigned meanings.
08:49Hot pink represented sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight,
08:55green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for harmony, and violet for spirit. Turquoise and
09:02pink were dropped from the six-color flag recognized today because the fabric colors
09:07were hard to find at the time for mass production.
09:10So it was a necessary compromise so that we could make it available,
09:15so that I could produce it commercially."
09:17In 2015, Baker chatted with CNN about the flag and recalled the day of the parade. He stated,
09:23"...I saw immediately how everyone around me owned that flag. I thought,
09:29it's better than I ever dreamed."
09:31He also shared his motivation behind the design and explained his community needed something to
09:36convey their happiness, splendor, and mightiness. According to Baker, the rainbow did that.
09:43"...and without any explanation at all, everyone knew immediately that this was now our flag."
09:49While the first U.S. Pride Parade took place in 1970, it wasn't until 23 years later that
09:55thousands of lesbians would take to the streets in their own march to fight for
10:00their rights and visibility. With help from other lesbian organizations,
10:04the first march was spearheaded by the New York chapter of the Lesbian Avengers.
10:09Thousands of flyers were passed out to spread the word to meet on April 24,
10:141993, for a Dyke March to the White House. That night, over 20,000 lesbians joined in solidarity
10:22and made their way to the National Mall. While in front of the White House,
10:26the Lesbian Avengers swallowed fire to draw attention to their group and its cause.
10:31After the success in Washington, D.C., the group organized a march in New York weeks later.
10:37Atlanta and San Francisco quickly followed suit that summer and hosted their own Dyke marches.
10:43While transgender activists played significant roles in the Stonewall uprising, there still
10:49wasn't a defined and singular place for the transgender community to celebrate their identities.
10:55In many instances, those within the community faced discrimination,
10:59even amongst the LGBTQ plus community. The first march reportedly came about after a
11:05mysterious email was sent to community activists in San Francisco. After receiving the message,
11:11many activists came together to organize the event. Many local businesses and organizations
11:18also chipped in to help make the event a reality. A few hundred people came together on June 25,
11:242004, and gathered in Dolores Park to begin the demonstration.
11:29Since the first transgender march, the number of attendees has continued to grow,
11:34with thousands participating in it annually on the Friday of San Francisco Pride Weekend.
11:40The event also sparked annual marches, gatherings,
11:44and demonstrations worldwide to raise awareness and support of transgender issues.