Pride Month occurs every June and helps to commemorate the Stonewall Riots when in the earl hours of June 28th 1969, New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn which was a Gay Club situated in Greenwich Village in New York City. This sparked a riot among bar patrons and people who lived in the local area. The police man handled and dragged people out of the bar which lead to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement officers outside the bar on Christopher Street in neighbouring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. These riots served as a marking point for the gay rights movement in the United States and all over the world.
The decades that followed the riots were not welcoming times for people who may be gay, lesbian, bisexual etc. For this reason people of such sexual orientation had to go to gay bars as this was the only place where they would feel safe and secure and be able to express themselves openly with no fear of persecution or discrimination. Although this was the case, the New York State Liquor authority still felt it could penalise and shut down many establishments that were known to or suspected of serving people who may be LGBT. To help justify this, they stated that the mere gathering of people who may be homosexual was disorderly.
These regulations were overturned in 1966 following many demonstrations and protests by activists. This now meant that LGBT Patrons could now be served alcohol again but engaging in gay behaviour in public such as holding hands with someone of the same gender was still illegal.
In 1966, three years before Stonewall, members of The Mattachine Society, an organization dedicated to gay rights, staged a “sip-in” where they openly declared their sexuality at taverns, daring staff to turn them away and suing establishments who did. When The Commission on Human Rights ruled that gay individuals had the right to be served in bars, police raids were temporarily reduced.
Since the riots, events have been held around the world every year to mark the gay rights movement. This LGBT History Month marks fifty years of Pride in the UK and illustrates how long people who may be Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual or Trans- gender have been able to have the same rights as people who are heterosexual. As part of the festivities and commemorations this year, the aim will be to look to the future and make plans of what we hope to achieve in the next fifty years. What will the world be like for LGBTQ people in 2072?
During this pivotal year, we’ll also be exploring the history of some often overlooked identities, and showing how we are always stronger, better and prouder together.
A number of events have been arranged to help highlight the struggles that LGBTQ people may have to go to. This will help highlight issues surrounding equality and ensure that everyone is treated equally with support where needed so that everyone has a level playing field in order to achieve their goals. There will be plenty of extra information online and through social media so that people can keep up to date with what is happening now and how it has changed through out history. This will help highlight the struggles people will have had to go through and educate the next generation in to how to make the world a more accommodating and tolerant place to live in.
To find out more information about Pride and about some of the events which are coming up, please visit:
www.pride-events.co.uk
