Pride Was a Riot

S t o n e w a l l Pride was a riot

Pride was a riot

Sometime in the early hours of June 28, 1969, in what is now regarded by many as history’s first major protest on behalf of equal rights for LGBTQ people an event occurred that would forever change history. Police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay club in New York City. This place was supposed to be a save haven for young lgbtq people to express themselves. The raid happened on the premise of the club operating without a liquor license, but New York’s gay community had grown tired of police targeting gay clubs, many of which had been forced to shut down. The raid turned violent as patrons and local sympathizers begin rioting against the authorities. Soon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar, and neighboring streets. Though the riot was a painful and aggressive attack targeted at the LQBTQ community, the people who fought back will forever be part of the galvanization and creation of numerous gay rights organizations, that still help people today. The Stonewall Riots became a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world as a period of revolution. Stonewall became a symbol of resistance to social and politicaldiscrimination would inspire solidarity among LQBTQ groups for decades. These riots soon made way for more radical groups such as the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). In addition to launching numerous public demonstrations to protest the lack of civil rights for gay individuals, these organizations often resorted to such tactics as public confrontations with political officials and the disruption of public meetings to challenge and to change the mores of the times. Acceptance and respect from the establishment were no longer being humbly requested but angrily and righteously demanded. The legacy that stonewall left behind made way for the LQBTQ community to fight harder for their right to live their lives and get the rights they deserve. Many of those rights have now been recognized by U.S. supreme court law, such as same sex marriage and laws against discrimination in the work place, but the fight still cotinues till all will be equal. It may be called the stonewall riots, but this event is often referred to as Americas first gay pride parade. In the words of the parades official chants “Say it loud, gay is proud” In 2019, the New York Police Department formally apologized for its role in the Stonewall Riots, and for the discriminatory laws that targeted gay people.