Say it Loud, Gay is Proud!
“Say it Loud, Gay is Proud!”
PRIDE is far more than the celebration of LGBTQIA+ love, it is a homage to those who never got the chance to express their love openly without public ridicule, and a felony charge. Yes, you heard me, not being heterotypical was a crime. In fact, in New York, anyone seen ‘soliciting’ same sex relations was cuffed and charged. Establishments were not allowed to serve alcohol to gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans indiviuals, and if they were, the establishments were shut down. According to the New York Liquor Authority, any establishment serving groups of ‘gathering homoseexuals,’ were seen as ‘disorderly,’ which often would lead to raids, and high fines.
Prior to the infamous Stonewall Riots, there were civil rights groups and activists championing for equal rights, such as Henry Gerber in 1924, who formed the Society of Human Rights, and although he was forced to disband, still was able to get his newsletter, Friendship and Freedom, circulating. There was also America’s first lesbian rights organization, The Daughters of Bilitis, which formed in San Francisco, in 1955. Then 3 years prior to Stonewall, an activist group called The Mattachine Society, which staged several ‘sip in’s’ to challenge the already discriminatory law of prohibitng the sale of alcoholic beverages to gay, lesbian, biseexual, and trans patrons. Only when the Commissioner on Human rights declared it legal to serve LGBTQIA+ individuals, did the raids temporarily reduce on gay bars and clubs; temporarily being the key word.
The Stonewall Inn was owned by one of the most prolific mob families in New York, known as the Genovese family. They had purchased the Stonewall Inn, which was formerly a straight bar, and very cheaply rehabbed it into a safe haven for many LGBTQIA+ individuals during the late 1960’s. The Genovese family crafted the Stonewall Inn to be THE spot for gays in Greenwhich Village, by ensuring saefty by greasing the palms of the patrol. The police would always tip the Genovese members off every time they were to be in, which allowed the club to stay open since they could hide the liquor (Stonewall was a bottle club, BYOB). Until that muggy early morning of June 28th, a few hours after midnight, when the police who were getting paid off handsomely, didn’t feel the need to tip the Genovese crime family off this time.
For anyone who has heard the 80’s hair band, Twisted Sister’s hit single, We’re not Gonna Take It,’ you would know that the Stonewall Riots were a direct reflection of the lyrics. Infamous drag queen, activist, and artist, Marsha P. Johnson, can be heard to this day, “I got my civil rights!” The Stonewall Riots lasted 5 days, and on that first night, the Stonewall Inn was set ablaze with police and several others locked inside; one other being a journalist for a well known newspaper (talk about being front and center for a life changing event!). The Stonewall Riots were catalysts for the formation of the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
On June 28th 1970, a full year after the riots, members of the LGBTQIA+ communities, and their ally’s marched in solidarity in the streets of Manhattan from the Stonewall Inn, to Central Park. This was the first PRIDE parade, also known as ‘Christopher Street Liberation Day.’
We are not just celebrating love during PRIDE month, we are fighting for freedom. We are standing in solidarity for those who still do not have a voice, because we still are not done fighting for equality. It has only been 7 years since same sex marriage was legalized in all 50 states…7 years ya’ll! Even though the US Supreme Court passed it, wedding vensues, restaurants, CHURCHES, bakeries, and more, all across the country, still refuse services to same sex couples on the daily! We are far from finished, so when you celebrate this month take a moment to think back on why it is that you are celebrating.
Happy PRIDE!