When was the first gay pride month
But there are lessons that we have learned from the past, that can help us take on each moment as it comes.Ĭreating more awareness around the injustices of today has become more important than ever. We won’t be able to fix everything at once. The fact that the fight for both LGBTQ and racial equality has been going on for centuries and may be going on for centuries more feels overwhelming, especially for those of us in both camps. The Trump administration has proven time and again that it does not want to take our rights into consideration, especially when it comes to trans rights. You can still legally be fired in 28 states for being LGBT. For the LGBTQ community specifically, financial planning is still different.
While there have been some huge gains, we still have a ways to go. Today we can get married and legally adopt children in all 50 states. The parades have long been the voice and coming together of the LGBTQ community to celebrate our lives.įor seven straight years, from 2009 through 2016, President Obama officially declared June as LGBT Pride month. We’ve also made it through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. We’ve come a long way from the police brutality and stigmatization of the 1970s. In fact, the Chicago Pride Festivals have had crowds of more than one million people since 2013. The first few marches drew only a few hundred people, but the Pride Parades today include hundreds of thousands. They dropped "Gay Liberation" and "Gay Freedom" from the names, replacing them with "Gay Pride."
The culture shifted in the 1980s, as less radical activists began taking over the march committees in different cities. They gave a growing LGBTQ movement a voice and, as support grew, that voice began to be heard. They also served as a huge megaphone for LGBTQ needs and rights - like protection against harassment, raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic or fighting for marriage equality. They promoted visibility of the LGBTQ community. The parades were a mix of politics and celebration. At first, the New York City day of celebration was called "Christopher Street Liberation Day." In Los Angeles and San Francisco, these events became known as “Gay Freedom Marches,” and the day was called "Gay Freedom Day." Chicago had Gay Pride Week. The following year, the anniversary of the Stonewall riots was marked by demonstrations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Events at Stonewall emboldened others to do what they could to help. Media coverage of the riots allowed others to see the LGBTQ struggle for themselves and to relate to and support those fighting for their rights.