Once May leads into June, Pride Month comes into full swing, honoring and celebrating the lives of LGBTQIA+ individuals and their sacrifices for freedom, independence and respect throughout the United States. This June and onward, it’s important to dive into the historical significance of this month in order to gain a better understanding of the month-long celebration.
Many outside of the LGBTQIA+ community may wonder how Pride Month even began, so here’s a historical timeline:
1924-1925
During these two years, The Society for Human Rights, or SHR, was founded by Henry Gerber, serving as the first gay rights organization in the United States in 1924. A year later, police raided the organization, forcing it to shut down. Yet, before its disbandment, they were able to publish multiple issues of their newsletter, “Friends and Freedom,” which was the country’s first gay-interest newsletter according to History.
Sept. 21, 1955
On this date, the United States’ first lesbian rights organization, The Daughters of Bilitis, formed in San Francisco.
1966-1967
Members of The Mattachine Society, an organization dedicated to gay rights, organized a “sip-in,” openly declaring their sexuality at taverns. Daring staff to turn them away, as well as suing those who did, this action allowed for queer individuals to be heard for the first time. Following the “sip-in,” The Commission on Human Rights ruled that gay individuals had the right to be served in bars, and this helped significantly reduce police raids for a while.
Additionally, the Genovese family, known for owning most of the gay bars in Greenwich Village in New York, purchased the Stonewall Inn. They renovated and reopened it the following year, registering themselves as a private “bottle bar,” which did not require a liquor license due to the notion that customers were supposed to bring their own.
As the bar grew in popularity, the family had to start bribing New York City’s Sixth Police Precinct to ignore the activities occurring inside. Stonewall Inn thus became a place where anyone could go, including drag queens and the homeless. It was also one of the only few gay bars that allowed dancing.
June 28, 1969
On June 28 just two years after its opening, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police. Armed with a warrant, officers found bootlegged alcohol, arrested 13 people, which included employees and people violating New York’s gender-appropriate clothing statute. They also hurt many within the bar, causing those who had already exited to linger outside.
Angered by the constant police harassment and social discrimination, leading to the crowd throwing items such as pennies, bottles and stones at the police. Within minutes, a riot broke out. The police and some of the prisoners barricaded themselves in the bar, which the mob attempted to set fire to.
While the riots eventually were stopped by firemen, the crowds continued to protest for another five days, which in turn had a lasting legacy on the fight for queer rights and representation. It led to multiple organizations being founded, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD and PFLAG.
November 1969
After the Stonewall Riots, organizers of the Annual Reminder Day Picket, part of the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations, or E.R.C.H.O, wanted to shift focus from planning this day to organizing an annual demonstration in commemoration of the riots.
Thus, in November at the E.R.C.H.O Conference, they presented the following resolution:
"We propose that a demonstration be held annually on the last Saturday in June in New York City to commemorate the 1969 spontaneous demonstrations on Christopher Street and this demonstration be called CHRISTOPHER STREET LIBERATION DAY.”
They also said: “We also propose that we contact Homophile organizations throughout the country and suggest that they hold parallel demonstrations on that day. We propose a nationwide show of support.”
June 28, 1970
One year after the Stonewall Riots, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. On this day, thousands of LGBTQIA+ individuals gathered together to commemorate the riots, as well as advocate for equal rights.
The celebration became known as the Gay Pride Parade during this time as well, considered as the country’s first gay pride parade. The parade was extremely successful, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 participants who marched the 51 blocks from Greenwich Village to Central Park.
The term “pride” was also coined by activist Craig Schoonmaker, who said: “I authored the word ‘pride’ for gay pride … [my] first thought was ‘Gay Power.’ I didn’t like that, so I proposed gay pride. There’s very little chance for people in the world to have power. People did not have power then; even now, we only have some. But anyone can have pride in themselves, and that would make them happier as people, and produce the movement likely to produce change.”
June 2000
In June of 2000, President Bill Clinton officially designated June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, as a way of recognizing the Stonewall Riots and gay activism throughout the decades previous.
2009
Nine years after Clinton’s recognition of queer activism and pride, President Barack Obama updated the month to a more inclusive name, calling it Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.
June 26, 2015
On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry was guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.
2016
The origins of Pride Month, as well as the Stonewall Riots, were also recognized by President Obama again when he created the Stonewall National Monument in 2016, a 7.7.-acre around the Stonewall Inn.
Dec. 13, 2022
President Joe Biden signed into law the Respect for Marriage Act, which requires other states to recognize same-sex marriages across state lines and that same-sex couples are entitled to the same federal benefits of straight couples.
