1970: A First-Person Acunt of the First Gay Pri March - The Village Voice

Contents:

• HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS
• GAY PRI
• INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
• LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH: THE ROAD TO AMERI'S FIRST GAY PRI MARCH
• THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS
• 1970: A FIRST-PERSON ACUNT OF THE FIRST GAY PRI MARCH
• PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI

HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS

Leonard Fk Photographs, The LGBT Communy Center Natnal History ArchiveMark SegalEarly member of the Gay Liberatn Front and marshal of the first Pri marchThe Christopher Street Gay Liberatn Day March was as revolutnary and chaotic as everythg we did that first year after the Stonewall rts. ” Today, my origal marshal’s badge is on display the JayEarly member of the Gay Liberatn Front and Radilbians and -anizer of the first march New York and Los AngelIt was a near miracle that the first Christopher Street Wt Para Los Angel kicked off at all on June 28, 1970.

For one day, we were victor agast the Ed Davis of the world, and no one seemed “dismod” the FkelsteJohn KyperEarly member of Boston’s Gay Liberatn Front and an anizer of Boston’s first Pri ParaWe held our first march Boston 1971 — a year after New York. Groups hosted the 17th ternatnal nference of ILGA (The Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn), and the energy of the ternatnal legat who attend and the excement of hostg the gatherg only add to the drama of the untry’s first actual succsful para. Amid the flurry of rabow-lan rporate logos, sponsored events and news ems about gay pengus, is difficult to turn on a televisn or set foot public durg June whout the remr that is Pri Month for LGBT and queer people.

Gee Dudley, a photographer and artist who also served as the first director of New York Cy’s Llie-Lohman Mm of Gay and Lbian Art, documented scen om pri paras New York Cy om the late 1970s through the early ‘90s.

GAY PRI

The years saw Ana Bryant’s homophobic csa through the “Save Our Children” mpaign 1977, the electn and assassatn of Harvey Milk 1978, and the Whe Night rts the followg summer after the lenient sentencg of Milk’s murrer, Dan Whe. 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.

”Spencer Grant/Getty ImagView of the large crowd, some of whom are holdg up handma signs and banners, participatg a gay and lbian pri para the Back Bay neighborhood of San Francis, activists marched down Polk Street and held a “Gay-” at Goln Gate Park on June 28th, too. Every Fourth of July begng 1965, the Remr march—named after the need to "remd" the public of the opprsn faced by the gay muny—aimed to secure acceptance by showg how unthreateng LGBT people were to the rt of society.

On June 28, 1969, members of New York Cy's gay muny rose up agast opprsn and state-sponsored vlence, fightg back an event now known as the Stonewall Rts or Stonewall a few years, anized, annual paras of pri and remembrance would emerge to mark the event. In 1972, amid a large migratn of gay men, a buddg lear named Harvey Milk moved om New York Cy to the Castro District of San Francis, where he would later bee the first openly gay elected official , Harvey Milk appears at a Gay Pri Para 1978. Their fac reflected the motorcycle mirror unr a Pri flag, a pair of women the Dyk on Bik group wa the Castro District for the start of the Internatnal Lbian & Gay Freedom Day Para, San Francis, on June 26, known as the San Francis Dyk on Bik Women's Motorcycle Contgent, the group supports chari the LGBT muny.

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

Amerin textile artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker (1951-2017) seen here stumed as J, rri a cross as he march wh others on Market Street durg the Internatnal Lbian & Gay Freedom Day Para San Francis, California, on June 24, 1990. Somewhere durg all this Marty Robson (a noted gay activist, who died 1992) me up and gave me a piece of chalk to wre on the streets and walls up and down Christopher Street: “Christopher Street, Tomorrow Night.

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

She was print of the NYU Stunt Homophile League, a founr of Radilbians, and, fall 1969, prented the rolutn creatg the Christopher Street Liberatn Day March at the Eastern Regnal Conference of Homophile Organizatns.

I say that wh a great al of self-cricism, given my own pletely dismissive behavr towards the people who me before me, like the Mattache Society and Dghters of Bilis, the mastream homophile anizatns of that time. He has served on the Chigo Commissn on Human Relatns’ Advisory Council on lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr issu, and sat on the Chigo LGBTQ+ Hall of Fame Commtee om s ceptn 1991 (-chairg sce 1992).

THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS

Gay Pri typilly volv a seri of events and is often pped by a para volvg marchers and lourful floats om the LGBTQ muny and s the Stonewall rts, LGBTQ dividuals had generally not broadst their sexual orientatn or inty, but the event galvanized the gay muny and sparked greater polil activism (see gay rights movement). In 1970, on the first anniversary of the rts, several hundred monstrators marched along Greenwich Village’s Christopher Street, which ns past the Stonewall, what many nsir the first Gay Pri march (though other memoratns were also held that year). Origs of Pri MonthThe roots of the gay rights movement go back to the early 1900s, when a handful of dividuals North Ameri and Europe created gay and lbian anizatns such as the the Society for Human Rights, found by Henry Gerber Chigo the 1920s.

Followg World War II, a small number of groups like the Mattache Society and the Dghters of Bilis published gay- and lbian-posive newsletters and grew more vol mandg regnn for, and prottg discrimatn agast, gays and lbians.

1970: A FIRST-PERSON ACUNT OF THE FIRST GAY PRI MARCH

In 1966, for example, members of the Mattache Society held a “sip-” prott at Juli, a bar New York Cy, where they mand drks after announcg that they were gay, vlatn of lol laws agast servg alhol to gays and lbians. Dpe some progrs the postwar era, basic civil rights were largely nied to gay, lbian, bisexual and transgenr people—until one night June, 1969, when the gay rights movement took a fur step forward wh a seri of vlent rts New York Cy.

By the time the Stonewall Rts end on July 2, 1969, the gay rights movement went om beg a ge issue largely ignored by policians and the media to ont-page news Gay Pri ParaOne year later, durg the anniversary of the Stonewall Rts, activists New York Cy marched through the streets of Manhattan memoratn of the uprisg.

The march, anized by the Eastern Regnal Conference of Homophile Organizatns (ERCHO) and the Christopher Street Liberatn Day Umbrella Commtee, was named the Christopher Street Liberatn Day time, that celebratn me to be simply known as the Gay Pri Para. March and paras also took place that June Chigo, Los Angel and San the years, gay pri events have spread om large ci to smaller towns and villag worldwi—even plac where reprsn and vlence agast gays and lbians are monplace.

PARTY AND PROTT: THE RADIL HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN, STONEWALL AND PRI

The atmosphere at the events n range om r, rnivalque celebratns to strint polil prott to solemn memorials for those lost to AIDS or homophobic June 2000, Print Bill Clton officially signated June as Gay and Lbian Pri Month, regnn of the Stonewall Rts and gay activism throughout the years. A more-clive name was chosen 2009 by Print Barack Obama: Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Pri origs of Gay Pri Month were also honored by Obama when, 2016, he created the Stonewall Natnal Monument, a 7. 7-acre around the Stonewall Inn where the morn gay rights movement, Gay Pri paras many ci are enormo celebratns: The events Sao Plo, Sydney, New York Cy, Madrid, Taipei and Toronto routely attract up to 5 ln Pri Month has grown populary across the globe, cricism of the events has grown, too.