Why Do They Need a Parade?

My first reaction when someone says, "I don't get why they need a parade" is that I want to bust them upside the head  (I swear I'm not a violent person) but in all actuality, most people don't know the story of how the pride  "parade" was born. So it makes sense as to why they wouldn't understand.

This is the Stonewall Inn. Stonewall is a gay bar in lower Manhattan and has been since the 60's. As you can imagine, gay bars weren't very welcome in those times. Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often hole-in-the-wall bars.

At the time, the Stonewall Inn was owned by the Mafia who made a profit by taking advantage of the patrons. People faced being outed, losing their jobs, their families, and their friends by being seen at a bar like this. Gay Americans in the 1950s and 1960s faced an anti-gay legal system and police would often take the opportunity to raid the bar, beat, and arrest the patrons inside.  

Early on the morning of Saturday, June 28th, 1969, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people had enough and decided to riot following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn. This night and the following nights were filled with protests and riots. This was an important moment in the LGBTQ rights movement. It was also the reason for organizing LGBTQ pride marches on a much larger public scale all over the country.

On June 28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Today, Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots.  

People march every year to remember...they march so that we never forget. We have come a long way, but still, we have a way to go. We celebrate to remind ourselves that it is OK to be ourselves and to let those who still feel like it's not OK to know that they are not alone.

So if you ever find yourself questioning why people need to march, take a moment to appreciate that you have never had to march or protest or fight to be who YOU are...and offer to march with us. #pridemonth