The History Behind PRIDE

Greg Osberg, LSWAIC (He/Him/His)

Pride month is celebrated each June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots that took place in New York. However, since Stonewall, Pride has become a global event. It takes place across every continent, and the ongoing efforts toward equality and justice for all LGBTQ people have continued to increase. It is time of learning, reflection, growth, and celebration. As a community, Pride marks a time to remember all the progress toward social change that has been made and all that still needs to be done. In the years since Stonewall, what often gets lost is the history of this event. As such, I wanted to take some time to share with you that history and why it is so important to remember the origins of Pride.

The Stonewall riots began on the 28 th of June at the Stonewall Inn, a local bar. In the raid that led to the riots, two police officers came into the bar and demanded to “check the sex” of some of the bar’s customers. These officers were part of the NYPDs ‘Public Morals Squad’ with a long-documented history of harassment of LGBTQ people. As officers forced people to disperse, they gathered outside the bar in protest and it erupted into the riots we remember today. From this event we have memorable LGBTQ activist Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Stormé Delarverie. The first Pride event was then organized by Brenda Howard, a bisexual activist, in New York City on the 28 th of June 1970. Brenda is considered the ‘Mother of Pride’ and a champion of bi-inclusion. The event she held was called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. From this event Pride grew and became a global presence.

By remembering where Pride came from, we can remember the purpose of this month. Pride started as a protest and stands to remind us of continued fights that need to be made for LGBTQ rights across the world. For example, LGBTQ youth are more than twice as likely to feel suicidal and over four times as likely to attempt suicide compared to a heterosexual youth. (HRC, 2017). Additionally, LGBTQ teens are six times more likely to experience symptoms of depression than heterosexual teens (ADAA, 2018).

Pride’s history also reminds to be inclusive of the needs of all the LGBTQ community. Issues like biphobia or transphobia are still pervasive and can often be overlooked if not specifically called out. There is more to the LGBTQ community than one identity and remembering to be inclusive of all marginalized identities is critical.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hear more about the origins of Pride. I hope it gives you some time to reflect as you celebrate Pride this year.

https://adaa.org/find-help/by-demographics/lgbtq

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LGBTQ_MentalHealth_OnePager.pdf