Roots of Pride

Written by Maggie 

 

Every year, as the clock strikes midnight between May and June, celebrations begin. Rainbow flags line streets, and people cheer. Cheer in pride. In love. This month provides an incredible opportunity for joy, self-acceptance, and life. However, it hasn’t always been so joyful, and it’s important that we remember and acknowledge the darker origin of this celebratory month before we partake in its happier observances. 

Before pride month or its parades even existed, riots like the Stonewall riot took place. The location of this uprising, The Stonewall Inn of Greenwich Village, was a bar and nightclub in the 1960s that functioned as a safe place for LGBTQ+ individuals to congregate. It became less safe, however, when law enforcement raided the bar on June 28th, 2022, in nothing short of an attack on employees and patrons of the bar, and the entire LGBTQ+ community as a whole. 13 innocent people were arrested that day. However, this was nowhere near the first time that members of the LGBTQ+ community had felt alienated by Law Enforcement. With same-sex relations being illegal during the 1960s, police raids of known gay bars were extremely common. This raid was a final straw for many outraged members of the LGBTQ+ community, however, and it began a six-day riot, demanding equal treatment through brute force.

 These riots weren’t peaceful, but they were extremely necessary. Throughout these 6 days, police and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender citizens clashed violently in streets neighboring the bar, and uprisings of passion began throughout the nation. This event largely began the LGBTQ+ rights movement and every year since June has served as a memorial month to those who fought during those days and have continued to fight ever since. Our world still has a long way to go on our journey to complete acceptance, but Pride would not exist if not for these Black, transgender women, these Lesbians who helped so many neglected Gay men through the governmentally ignored AIDS epidemic, and the strength of every single member of our community. 

So next time you go to turn your social media profile picture to rainbow for Pride Month, or attend a pride parade, think about the origin of these celebrations first.

 

Happy Pride!

 

Much love, The Proud Project.