Gay Pride can be traced back to the 1960′s. During this time LGBT citizens were subject to many civil laws. Among many things, these civil laws criminalized sodomy. In New York City, for example, this law even allowed bars to refuse service to LGBT customers. Establishments often cited Section 106, Subsection 6 of the New York State Penal Code in order to refuse service to queer patrons.
During this time, there were also a few bars that did serve LGBT patrons. However, under Section 722, Subsection 8 of the New York State Penal Code, those bars made it illegal to “solicit men for the purpose of committing a crime against nature.” In other words, you couldn’t touch, kiss, or grind with another man on the dance floor… because that too was illegal.
One bar, The Stonewall Inn, blatantly disobeyed the law, offering their customers a safe haven where they could be themselves. They kept close eyes on any cops in the area. Often times owners would turn the lights on to alert patrons that cops were nearby.
On the morning of June 28, 1969, the NYPD First District raided The Stonewall Inn. The drag queens and other gay citizens fought back. There were reports of everything from bricks to stilettos being thrown at officers. The fight fell out into the street and as word of the uprising spread, LGBT citizens from all over New York joined the riot. The riot lasted for 6 days and is referred to by many as the beginning of the Gay Civil Rights Movement.
Soon after the Stonewall riots, Gay Rights organizations began to form. On June 28, 1970, exactly one year from the Stonewall riots the nation’s first gay pride parade was held in New York City.
Each year in June, pride parades are held all around the country to rally for equal gay rights. This is a direct result from the Stonewall riots in the 1960′s.
What are we marching towards these days? Google ‘Gay pride’ and images like the one on the left are the first thing you get. Now I am not saying that these guys aren’t fun to look at, but why is this the first result when you Google such a vast topic? Why nothing about the reasons we march for gay pride?
What exactly are these guys proud of? Are they proud of having great bodies? Are they proud of their cute underwear? Or are they perhaps proud of their sexuality?
The Stonewall riots didn’t happen so that today’s gay men could proudly run around in their underwear. The Stonewall riots happened because it was illegal to go into bars in most cases if you were gay. If you were lucky enough to find one that allowed gays in, you couldn’t touch in any way shape or form without fear of being arrested. Gay citizens got tired of it and they fought back.
Most of the country has laws today that forbid gay marriage. What are we going to do about that? We can start by putting some clothes on because no one will take us seriously otherwise.
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