The Untold Truth Of Pride Month

While homosexuality is common among different animal species and was often practiced in ancient cultures — such as ancient Greece — through time, monotheistic religious influences all over the world have managed to exclude it from society as something immoral and abnormal. While the gay culture thrived in the 1920s, it was all over soon. The repression that succeeded the short period of freedom was brutal, as police forces and politicians like Joseph McCarthy tried to crack down on any homosexual activity in the USA during the 1950s and 1960s, making gay bars (or even gay dancing) illegal. They often arrested people on the basis of cross-dressing, referring to the "three article law," which demanded at least three pieces of adequate attire, masculine for men and feminine for women. The rule was never actually legislated and was a legacy of a law that targeted farmers who dressed as Native Americans to avoid taxation (per History).

The Mafia seized the opportunity for profits hidden in the pockets of gay people, taking over the New York gay bar scene that was evolving in West Manhattan. Tony Lauria or "Fat Tony" owned Stonewall Inn since 1966 but sustained it with as little effort as possible (via History). Regardless of its state, the bar became a safe haven for the gay community, who mostly wanted peace from violence and the police. The Genovese family made sure that any raids which did happen were tipped off, taking place in the slow afternoon hours.

The LGBTQ+ community frequently organized events that would bring attention to the discrimination they experienced, although the initial acts were much smaller than today's Gay Pride Marches. According to Philadelphia Encyclopaedia, the protest outside Philadelphia Independence Hall on July 4, 1965, is documented as one of the first organized demonstrations in support of gay rights in the USA (but not the first, as there was one similar event two months prior in Washington). Thirty-nine individuals gathered at the protest organized by Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings and the East Coast Homophile Organization, dressed in full business attire — proving they can be, just as everyone else, employable and "normal." The protesters gathered and demanded changes in the law on the basis of their constitutional right of "Pursuit of Happiness." As explained by Philadelphia Encyclopaedia, these Annual Reminders took place for several years after 1965 until July 1969.

The organizers, Kameny, Gittings, and Kay Tobin Lahusen, thought the protesters should look as "normal" as they could to prove they could be equally productive members of society. But Craig Rodwell, one of the organizers, disagreed when Kameny demanded that a lesbian couple should stop holding hands — a much younger Rodwell got angry, calling Kameny an Auntie Tom and encouraging some other protesters to hold hands, per the podcast "Making Gay History." Hand holding between same-sex couples was caught on camera, so the media grabbed the story. But some vile reports of the event aside, it succeeded in generating publicity (via NBC News).

The Stonewall riots weren't the first case of LGBTQ+ rebellion, and neither were the Annual Reminders. According to Refinery29, there were the Cooper's Donut Riots in 1959, Compton's Cafeteria Riot in 1966, and the Black Cat Riot of 1967, all with a strong racial component, as the majority of those involved weren't white.

The spark that led to the Stonewall riots that night was created by Black, queer, and trans people — a part of history that is often omitted. As per Morven Loh for Fumble, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera – trans activists of color — were the leading personalities in the movement, as were other queer trans and non-binary people of color, but even a community as diverse as the LGBTQ+ is not immune to racism. After the Stonewall riots, several gay activist groups were organized on the blueprint of the Black Panther Party, and there was even some mutual support between the two groups. But this is the part of history that is not mentioned or studied often.

The film Stonewall (2015) by Roland Emmerich is a great example: It tells the story of these historical events but through the eyes of a fabricated character named Danny Winters. Danny is white, blond, and blue-eyed and embarks on his journey after his small-town local community in Indiana rejects his homosexuality. While this story is well worth telling, many questioned whether this movie is about teenage homelessness or the history of Stonewall Inn — a petition was created, attacking Emmerich for "whitewashing" the real events (via CNN).

As the resistance movement grew out of riots, there wasn't much celebration at the beginning (via History). The riots were a mirror of the violent forces trying to shut down basic human rights, and many who were involved paid the price of physical violence, verbal abuse, and legal oppression. 

Annual Reminders were focused on proving the "normality" of the community, intentionally hiding the colors and the flair. When Craig Rodwell, Fred Sargeant, Ellen Brody, and Linda Rhodes suggested the idea of the first Pride March in New York, held a year after the Stonewall Riots, they also proposed a radical concept for the march — it should happen without any dress or age regulations. The New York Christopher Street Liberation Day March of 1970 was a mixture of a demonstration and festivities, but far from the party known today. There was no music, floats, or other carnival-like features — just thousands of people marching with pride. 

The week-long event in Chicago did include a Gay Dance and educational activities but ended with a march under the slogan "Gay Power." The Los Angeles section marched through Hollywood Boulevard but also had a serious demonstration, similar to the San Francisco one, where the community marched on Polk Street, ending the event with a "Gay-in" in Golden Gate Park. It was only throughout the years — when Pride Marches became bigger and the rights of LGBTQ+ people became a real legal category — that more glitter and partying became staples of the events.

In 1999, Bill Clinton proclaimed June 1999 as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, where he encouraged all Americans to celebrate diversity through events, parades, and other activities. In the proclamation, Clinton emphasized the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and the "birth of the modern gay and lesbian civil rights movement" (via The American Presidency Project). As a part of the anniversary, Stonewall Inn and the streets around it were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

According to the Battle Creek Pride organization, when Clinton was followed by George W. Bush as a president, the latter did not recognize the Pride Month for two mandates in a row, showing how fragile these initiatives actually are. Barack Obama endorsed it, as did Joe Biden. Elsewhere, Donald Trump became the first Republican president who at least publicly recognized Pride Month over his Twitter account with a series of tweets (which are deleted today, along with his account). He never did it officially — he proclaimed June to be "National Homeownership Month, Great Outdoors Month, and Caribbean-American Heritage Month" instead (via Snopes). His administration also proposed legislation that would allow medical workers to refuse treatment of trans people and another to make it possible for homeless trans people to be legally rejected from homeless shelters.

While Pride Month started in the United States, it soon spread across more than 50 countries around the world, according to Slacker. Marche des Fiertés LGBT in Paris, France, is one of the biggest in the world, and it's marking its 41st anniversary in 2022. The grandest and probably the flashiest one must be the one in São Paulo, Brazil, documented as the "largest pride" parade by the Guinness World Record organization, attracting over 3 million people from all around the world. A bit further up north, Mexico City's Pride Parade is also known for its exceptional vibe, as 1 million supporters gather each year and celebrate pride. There are two massive marches in Berlin, Germany, and London, U.K., while people in Amsterdam, Netherlands celebrate Pride Month in a unique way — traveling through the city on canal boats. 

Several countries only joined Pride Month in recent years, which is a massive step for LGBTQ+ communities in places where their fight is still much needed. South Korea organized its first Pride March in 2019 in Seoul, while the activists in Bucharest, Romania officially celebrated pride since 2000. The one in Romania is more serious and less celebratory, as the country is still working its way toward a society more focused on human rights. Ukraine organized its first pride in 2018 in Kiev, managing to sustain the parade for 20 minutes and ending without being interrupted by violence for the first time in the country's history.