Gay pride

It's that time of year again.

From Wikipedia:

In June 1969, a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. The late Miss Sylvia Rivera a transgender rights activist and founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance is credited by many as the first to actually strike back at the police and in doing so, spark the rebellion.

The Stonewall riots are generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, as it was the first time in modern history that a significant body of LGBT people resisted arrest.

Activist L. Craig Schoonmaker claims to have coined the term "gay pride" in description of the 1969 Stonewall riots. [1]

Brenda Howard known as the "Mother of Pride" an early leader of the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance in the early post-Stonewall era coordinated the first month anniversary rally and then the "Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March" on June 28, 1970 to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion.[2][3]

First year anniversary marches organized by other groups were also held in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1970.

Howard also originated the idea for a week-long series of events around what is now known as Pride Day; this became the first of the extended annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world.

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Longtime Real Art readers know that I believe that gay rights are about much more than simply the freedom to get it on with someone of the same gender. Rather, in our simultaneously sexually exploitative yet repressively fundamentalist culture, the GLBT community is essentially the last man standing in terms of sexual sanity. That is, by default, and whether they like it or not, homosexuals in America represent sexual freedom and possibility as well as physical and psychological sexual health. Sure, there are some organizations and individuals outside of the gay world such as Planned Parenthood or Judith Levine doing their part, but gay people are everywhere.

Consequently, gay pride is for anyone and everyone in the United States who values sexual freedom, health, and ethics. Happy gay pride week!


The rainbow flag flying above Castro Street
in San Francisco. Photo by Justin J.W. Powell

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