ABOUT GAY PRIDE CELEBRATIONS

On the night of June 27, 1969, the usual crowd gathered at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. New York Beverage Control Board agents and NYC police officers raided the bar to enforce an alcohol control law that was seldom imposed anywhere else in the city.

Raids on Gay establishments, however, were common at the time and were conducted regularly with little or no resistance. Fearful Gay patrons were often physically forced out of their gathering places, sometimes beaten, and arrested, with no just cause just for simply congregating.

On this historic night, Lesbians and Gay men together fought back against police harassment for the first time. The crowd inside and outside of the bar erupted into violent resistance against the officers.

Word spread quickly about the confrontation and outraged crowds gathered on subsequent nights to protest the mistreatment historically inflicted on the Gay community. These protests came to be known as the Stonewall Rebellion, with the uprising serving as the catalyst for the modern political movement for Gay and Lesbian liberation.

Now, Gay and Lesbian Pride events are planned annually each June throughout North America to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion and to continue the GLBT community struggle for equality.

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