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Each year in June gays and lesbians prance and
parade to celebrate Gay Pride Month. The history of Gay Pride
Celebrations began in 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York City at the
Stonewall Inn.
At the time, it was common all over the United States for police
to raid gay and lesbian bars. While they were purportedly looking for
liquor law or other violations, patrons were arrested and dragged off
to jail with no legitimate charges. The names of those arrested were
often published in the papers and many of those people were fired from
their jobs as a result.
In 1969 bars were about the only places gays and lesbians could
gather in public. Most times, when the police would raid a bar, the gay
and lesbian clientele would try to slip out the back or cower in the
corners.
The Stonewall Riots
But on the night of June 27th, 1969 something different
happened. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, the butch lesbians and
drag queens fought back. The bar patrons threw bottles and rocks at the
police. They chanted, “Gay Power!” For several nights crowds grew
outside the Stonewall Inn.
Word quickly spread around the country about the gay people who
fought back against the police. The event became known as the Stonewall
Rebellion or Stonewall Riots. Although there was a small gay rights
movement around the country prior to Stonewall, after 1969 the movement
changed.
The 1960s was a time of revolution. The Civil Rights Movement
was in full swing and people took to the streets to protest the war in
Vietnam. It was only a matter of time before gays and lesbians stood up
for their rights as well.
Ever since, gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people
celebrate pride and call for basic civil rights by commemorating
Stonewall. In New York City they march on the last Saturday in June.
Across the US and all over the world, gays and lesbians remember the
brave men and women of Stonewall every June in Gay Pride celebrations.
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