June was pride month, but Washtenaw County likes to celebrate pride all summer long. It wasn’t random that June became a month to celebrate this community. It started back in the 60s, during LGBTQIA protests.
The history of pride month
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City, was raided by police. During this time, being a part of the community and committing acts of homosexuality was still illegal, as hard as that is to believe. Cross dressing and drag was also illegal and serving this community could cause bars, restaurants, or other private businesses to be shut down.
This raid was met with retaliation. Patrons and many members of the community fought back against police and refused arrest. They strongly outnumbered the police, and refused to back down. This turned into a riot which lasted six days. It was a huge act of courage and bravery from those willing to fight back against the homophobic laws.
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Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender woman and activist, is one of the most notorious participants. She joined the riots when the inn was already on fire, around 2am. She was on the front lines with other transgender women, including Sylvia Rivera, who felt they had nothing to lose.
Later, Marsha fought hard for LGBTQIA+ rights, specifically transgender rights and intersectionality. She felt that People of color were often left out of conversations, since many organizations at the time were run by white, gay men. So, she created her own organization with Rivera, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). This organization was dedicated to housing transgender individuals who were cast out by their families.
Pride has been a tradition for a long time. The first parade was started over 50 years ago by Brenda Howard, a bisexual activist who is known as the, “Mother of Pride.” This parade marked the 1st Anniversary of Stonewall, and went on for 51 blocks. Since then, June has been an amazing celebration of homosexuality celebrated across the United States, and often including amazing parades, parties and more.
Memorials are also held for members of the community that we have lost to hate crimes or HIV/Aids, such as Marsha P. Johnson, whose death was ruled accidental but many believe was foul play.
The rainbow flag became a symbol of the movement in 1978, when Drag Queen and Gay artist Gilbert Baker designed it, backed by Harvey Milk, one of the first gay elected officials in the United States. In 1994, he created a mile-long version of the most popular rendition of this flag, and the symbol stuck.
June was not officially declared pride month until 1999, when Bill Clinton issued a presidential proclamation for “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.” President Obama expanded the name, declaring it the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride month. Joe Biden expanded the celebration one step further to include intersex, asexual and other queer identifying people.
Pride is a beautiful time to celebrate how far we’ve come, and a time to reflect on who we’ve lost. The fight isn’t over. There are currently 530 anti-LGBTQIA laws being tracked by the ACLU. Take this summer to celebrate, but to fight as well. Sign petitions, attend protests, and protect your community.
Ann Arbor will be holding its Pride event on Aug. 1 this year. Learn more at annarborpride.com.
