Every year, during the month of June, the LGBT community celebrates in a number of different ways. Across the globe, various events are held during this special month as a way of recognizing the influence LGBT people have had around the world.
Why was June chosen? Because it is when the Stonewall Riots took place, way back in 1969. As well as being a month long celebration, Pride month is also an opportunity to peacefully protest and raise political awareness of current issues facing the community.
Parades are a prominent feature of Pride month, and there are many street parties, community events, poetry readings, public speaking, street festivals and educational sessions all of which are covered by mainstream media and attracting millions of participants.
Below is a NIOT friend’s feelings about Pride month and the history since the Stonewall Riots that took place in 1969 (50th anniversary this year). The riots were prompted by a raid that took place during the early morning, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The LGBT community held a series of spontaneous, often violent demonstrations to protest against the raid and calling for the establishment of places that gays and lesbians could go and be open about their sexual orientation.
The riots served as a catalyst for the rights of LGBT people, and within 6 months, 2 gay activist groups had formed in New York. Over the years since the event, many gay rights organizations have been formed. Not just in the US but around the world.
By Russ Goodwin – a Navy veteran and member of the LGBT community
The Stonewall Riots in New York City was a pivotal moment in our American History! It marks the day they as a community stood up and said No More! Lead by Trans Women of Color, they said no to the NYC Police and stood their ground, much like those who fought to establish our Country in 1776!
This was 50 years ago in just a few days exactly. I was a young teen of 14 then, old enough to know I was different, but I didn’t have a name for that difference then. Is wasn’t until our Weekly Subscription to Newsweek and Time Magazine arrived did I have that name! “Homosexual”. Upon reading the very brief articles in post publications, I realized those brave Trans Women of Color, those Homosexual Men were my tribe and I now had a name for what I was and what I continue to be today, a Proud Gay Man!
So, with this year, I too say I have been “OUT” for 50 years. I told my Mother then, read this article. I then told her, they are the same as me! We are one!
It is been a rough 50 years, filled with starts and stops, the hope of Harvey Milk and the devastation of his murder. The curious “Gay Cancer” that was killing in San Francisco and New York, that quickly spread around the world and would be called “AIDS” where so many of my friends and loved ones were taken from us. I am one of the lucky few to survive to this plague that took so many of my generation. I still mourn their loss, the loss of a generation of talented, smart, loving and beautiful men, women and children. The world will never know what may have been.
We went on to march in the streets and demand action from our government when a President refused to speak the name of AIDS. We fought for funding for medicines that will save our lives, and slowly, surely we gained ground and while there is still no cure, we are living and living with good health with the help of those drugs we demanded!
We fought to have the right to serve our Country in the Armed Forces, something we have always done, but under the threat of imprisonment and discharge. We fought and won, but now, that door is being closed to our Trans Community, so the fight continues on that front.
We fought for our rights to be considered worthy of Marriage Equality, we slowly gained those State by State, until that fateful day when the United States Supreme Court ruled in our favor and we could now Marry! And Marry we have, in the hundreds of thousands and we are having families and raising the next generation of Leaders for our Country! It is amazing, but for those of us who want to Adopt, many States are saying no, you can’t so the fight continues.
So much has happened over the last 50 years, one writing cannot contain it all, but, the conclusion is, we cannot rest, we cannot say the fight is won! We must continue to fight! Continue to bring those who have been left behind along with us and say our Fight is Not Over until all of us are on equal footing. That means we have to continue to fight for those brave Trans Women of Color who stood up, 50 years ago to say No More and started us on this journey of Freedom!
50 years, a drop in the bucket of this earth, but so integral to American History!
Happy Pride 2019! Remember If you March, and it is a March for Freedom, not a Parade! Take our History with you!
