The Reason for Pride: Remembering the Stonewall Riots
The only verified picture from the Stonewall Riots, 28th June 1969
June 28th 2022 is the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which transformed the gay liberation movement and gave birth to modern day Pride.
As Pride month comes to end, we at Certified Proud believe it is important to understand how Pride month started and why we still celebrate it today.
In 1960’s America, very few establishments welcomed gay people into their premises. Adding to this, New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner Junior ran a campaign to rid the city of gay bars, as he was concerned about the image of the city in the world’s eye. The bars’ liquor licenses were revoked and many bars entered the control of the Mafia.
With gay bars driven into the criminal underground, police raids became a monthly occurrence. During a typical raid, the lights were turned on and customers were lined up and their identification cards checked. Those without identification or dressed in full drag were arrested; others were allowed to leave. Women were required to wear three pieces of feminine clothing and would be arrested if found not wearing them. Typically, employees and management of the bars were also arrested.
Early in the morning of June 28th 1969, two plain-clothes police officers entered The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Once they had established “visual evidence” that the venue was a gay bar operating without a liquor license, they called their colleagues and a full-scale raid took place.
Over 200 queer people were forced out into the streets where the police exerted excessive violence against them. Different to other raids, this time the people resisted arrest and fought back. Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans woman living in New York, was one of the instrumental figures in the resistance and led the charge against the police. You can read about Marsha in our Certified Proud Icons series.
Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera
“The cops were totally humiliated. This never, ever happened. They were angrier than I guess they had ever been, because everybody else had rioted... but the fairies were not supposed to riot... no group had ever forced cops to retreat before, so the anger was just enormous. I mean, they wanted to kill.”
The violence continued well into the night and The Stonewall Inn went up in flames. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Thirteen people had been arrested. Some in the crowd were hospitalised, and four police officers were injured. Almost everything in the Stonewall Inn was broken.
The next day, there was intensive media coverage and people travelled to Greenwich Village to see what had happened and to show support for the people arrested. Such a public display of support for the queer community had never been seen before.
Riots, demonstrations and protests continued for five more days, with police becoming violent against the crowds every night. More and more organisations became involved and the news was covered nationally.
The following year, on June 28th 1970, crowds of people gathered in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. These gatherings became the first Pride parades, and the movement snowballed each year as more and more cities from across the globe became involved.
The first Pride parade took place in Ireland in Dublin in June 1983, and was in part in reaction to the horrific murder of Declan Flynn in Fairview, Dublin 3.
So while Pride has become a celebratory event, it is important to remember that it is rooted in protest and activism, and highlights the inequalities LGBTQ+ people still face today.