PRIDE! - Why?



June is Pride Month. But why the LGBT community across the world choose to march or orchestrate a parade in June annually? This is due to an unplanned, spontaneous 3-day riot outside a gay bar.

It is important to know that STONEWALL INN, along with other 'gay' bars was not owned by the gay people. Instead, they were owned by the mobs. These bars were not well-maintained, with dirty glasses and no running water. Mobs also tended to blackmail them, especially those who came from Wall Street.
The Gevenese Family owned the Stonewall Inn and it was opened in 1967. 

People now would wonder why gays, lesbians, and cross-dressers willing to risk their security and health to visit bar owned by the mobs. Those days, a premise will cease its operation or business even with the sheer presence of gays and drags. Serving alcohol to homosexuals already considered breaking the law. Therefore, the only 'safe' place for them to gather are bars such as Stonewall Inn, where owners will bribe the police officers for protection and tips. Though raids will be carried out from time to time, bars will still open the next day. 


Stonewall Inn in the 1960's. Image from Encyclopedia Britannic

Early morning 28th June 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. It was raided a few days ago BUT things were bound to be different that day. Standard procedures were not being followed and obeyed. Drags refused to go with the officers while gay men who were forced to stand in a line refused to produce their identification. Those who were released by the police did not leave the premise. Instead, they stayed outside the bar. The crowd grew and violence sparked after a butch lesbian, Stormé DeLarverie shouted at the crowd to 'do something'.

Gay community's Rosa Parks, Stormé DeLarverie. Image from lesbiannews.


Patrons jeered, sang, threw bottles, coins, debris, garbage, bricks towards the police. They have to barricade themselves or hide inside the bar along with several handcuffed detainees for their safety. The whole scene was out of control until the police were reinforced by the Tactical Police Force (TPF). TPF is a riot-control squad that was specifically trained to target Anti-War protestors.

Just when they thought the situation could be under control, the crowd fought back. At one point, the squad came face to face with the drag queens as their arms clasped around each other, kicking their heels in the air Rockettes-style and singing at the tops of their sardonic voices:
‘We are the Stonewall girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear no underwear
We show our pubic hair…
We wear our dungarees
Above our nelly knees!’

They protest again on the same evening, at night, the next day, and the day after. It continued for the next five days at least. Activists handed out leaflets titled “Get the Mafia and cops out of gay bars!” Street youths, gay men, hustlers, 'queens', bystanders and even tourists marched along Christopher Street, where Stonewall Inn is located. By then, the bar was burned and graffiti appeared on the walls of the bar.


"Drag Power"
"They Invaded Our Rights"
"Support Gay Power"
"Legalize Gay Bars"


The riot breaths new life into the gay rights movement. It gained coverage from local newspaper, New York Times, New York Post, Daily News and later on national media with the likes of Time and Newsweek. Media no longer able to portray gay people as effeminate and fragile. They fought on that street for their rights and continue their struggle after that. Old prejudices and stereotypes on the gay, or in a larger scale, the LGBT community were replaced. Press, radio, and TV started to give a more positive tone to the group. The first gay newspaper, 'GAY' published years later and achieved high readership.

"Queen Power exploded with all the fury of a gay atomic bomb" - Sunday News. Image from Democratic Movement.

Besides, it gives birth to gay rights organizations that willing to take a more radical approach when compared to the previous organization such as Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) and Mattachine Society. First came the Gay Liberation Front then the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), six months after the riot. GAA organized zaps (public confrontation with politicians), political marches and talks in high schools and universities.


GAA members picket outside the New York City Department of Education. Image from Getty Images.

More importantly, the Christopher Street Liberation Day on 28th June 1970 eventually became an annual event and not only it was held in New York, it was organized throughout major cities in the US. It is interesting to note that it was a bisexual woman named Brenda Howard who organized the first Pride parade.


Mother of Pride, Brenda Howard. Image from Advocate.

Stonewall Riots is a pivotal moment in the sexual liberation movement. Protests did occur prior to the 1969 riot. However, with a larger and more aggressive crowd, it gained a much-needed attention across the states and organizations and activists took that much-needed opportunity and turned it into a movement. Today, many parts of the world celebrate Pride Month and join the march, all thanks to the people who decided to stand up against hatred and bigotry on that fateful day.


Pride in Canada, featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Image from Mashable.

What happens to Stonewall Inn? It is a legit gay bar (mobs no more!) right now and also a historical landmark. In June 2016, formal president Barack Obama even declared Stonewall Inn to be a National Monument.
“The riots became protests, the protests became a movement, the movement ultimately became an integral part of America”

Opens every day, from 4 pm till 2 am. Image from New York Tour.

Sources:
Gay Liberation at 40.
Wikipedia.
Alexandra Stachurova (2009), Media Coverage of Gay Life Before and After the Stonewall Riots.
Lionel Wright (1999), The Stonewall Riots - 1969, A Turning Point in the Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Liberation.
Martin Duberman (1993), History is a Weapon - Stonewall.
Advocate, Remembering Brenda: An Ode to the Mother of Pride.

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