How Activists Organized the First Gay Pri Paras | HISTORY

Contents:

• HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS
• LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH: THE ROAD TO AMERI'S FIRST GAY PRI MARCH
• GAY PRI
• INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN

HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS

Five months after the rts, activists Craig Rodwell, his partner Fred Sargeant, Ellen Brody and Lda Rhos proposed a rolutn at the Eastern Regnal Conference of Homophile Organizatns (ERCHO) Philalphia that a march be held New York Cy to memorate the one-year anniversary of the raid. ” The ia of “Gay Power” was thrown around, but Schoonmaker said gay dividuals lacked real power to make change, but one thg they did have was pri.

”The Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny. At the time, homosexual acts remaed illegal every state except Illois, and bars and rtrants uld get shut down for havg gay employe or servg gay patrons. Most gay bars and clubs New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid rptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threateng to “out” them.

Here, protters monstrate outsi the New York gay bar, Christopher's the early hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raid by police wh no warng.

LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH: THE ROAD TO AMERI'S FIRST GAY PRI MARCH

Sylvia Rivera was a Lata-Amerin drag queen who beme one of the most radil gay and transgenr activists of the 1960s and '70s. As -founr of the Gay Liberatn Front, Rivera was known for participatg the Stonewall Rts and tablishg the polil anizatn STAR (Street Transvte Actn Revolutnari). After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village.

" This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay unintified group of young people celebrate outsi the board-up Stonewall Inn after the rts. ”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement. They are pictured here marchg Tim Square,, Sylvia Ray Rivera (ont) and Arthur Bell are seen at a gay liberatn monstratn, New York Universy, 1970 Marsha P.

GAY PRI

Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971.

The march was 51 blocks long om wt of Sixth Avenue at Waverly Place, Greenwich Village, all the way to Sheep’s Meadow Central Park, where activists held a “Gay-.

INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN

” Borrowg a technique that had been popularized by the Civil Rights Movement, the “Gay-” was both a prott and a celebratn. The cy marked the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts wh a week-long celebratn that clud a Gay Dance, workshops and speech.