June is pride month, dedicated to the celebration and recognition of the LGBTQ+ community. Pride Month is celebrated all over the world, and its history goes back over 100 years ago when a small number of gay and lesbian organizations, such as the Society for Human Rights, the Mattachine Society, and the Daughters of Bilitis put out gay and lesbian newsletters advocating for the recognition and non-discrimination of the gay and lesbian community.
It wasn’t until the Civil Rights era that the subject of LGBTQ+ rights really gained steam. In 1966, three male members of the Mattachine Society held a “sip-in” protest at Julius’ Bar and Restraurant in New York City. Fed up with discrimination and the local Jim Crow-like laws that banned serving alcohol to members of the LGBTQ+ community, the trio demanded drinks at the bar. Although they were refused service, the men wanted to demonstrate that bars in New York City discriminated against LGBTQ+ people.
The sip-in protest was just the beginning. Three years later the gay rights movement was born amidst the Stonewall Riots. The riots were a series of violent clashes between gay activists and Manhattan police that began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. On that fateful morning, police officers entered the bar, arrested employees for selling alcohol without a license, abused patrons, cleared the bar, and arrested those individuals who were not wearing at least three articles of “gender-appropriate” clothing.
Witnesses and patrons failed to disperse, and in their anger jeered at and jostled the police, and threw bottles and debris. The Manhattan police called for reinforcements and barricaded themselves inside the bar while over 400 people rioted outside in the street. The protestors eventually pushed through the police barricade, and the bar was set on fire.
The rioting outside the charred remains of the Stonewall Inn lasted for another five days, and since then the riots have stood out as a watershed moment for gay rights. Although there had been other protests by gay groups at this time, the Stonewall riots were the first time members of the LGBTQ+ community came together for a common cause: To fight for civil rights and put an end to the decades of discrimination and abuse simply for being gay, lesbian, trans or non-binary.
Now, over 50 years later, LGBTQ+ members are once again facing discrimination and bigotry in the form of a swath of anti-trans bills, Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, book bans in schools, the demonization of drag shows and reports of right-wingers verbally abusing store clerks in Target stores selling Pride merchandise (unfortunately Target, NASCAR and even the US Navy have caved to right-wing bigots by pulling down Pride flags and other Pride paraphernalia).
In 2023, there have been more than 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in states across the nation, targeting in particular trans youth, blocking them from receiving life-saving health care, and even enacting laws that punish parents with imprisonment for seeking health care for their trans children.
This month, no matter if you are cisgender, transgender, gay, straight, bisexual, lesbian, or non-binary, it is the duty of all of us to support our LGBTQ+ friends, families, and neighbors. As a mother of a transwoman, I see Pride Month as a celebration of diversity, and more importantly, to stand up for the human and civil rights of each and every human being on this planet.
Let’s honor Pride Month by standing up for the LGBTQ+ community, to call out hate and bigotry wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head (instead of caving into their “cancel culture” threats and hate speech). Let’s not ignore the fact that the growing wave of bigotry that has gained a foothold in our country threatens not only the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals but the rights of us all: The foundation of Democracy is based on the participation of each and every individual, no matter if you’re a drag queen, transman or cis.
Pride Month is more than rainbows.