Are 'The Gap' Stor Named for 'Gay and Proud'? |

Contents:

• ‘GAY AND PROUD’ HISTORIL FILM PROVIS LOOK BACK AT EARLY PRI MARCH
• ARE 'THE GAP' STOR NAMED FOR 'GAY AND PROUD'?
• HERE’S A LOOK AT THE GAY DAD’S ON ‘THE PROUD FAY’ REBOOT
• PRI MONTH: SAY IT LOUD, GAY IS PROUD
• LGBTQ HISTORY MONTH: THE ROAD TO AMERI'S FIRST GAY PRI MARCH
• INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
• GAY PRI
• HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS
• GAY AND PROUD
• HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

‘GAY AND PROUD’ HISTORIL FILM PROVIS LOOK BACK AT EARLY PRI MARCH

© Lynn Watson/ Colorful upliftg paras wh floats and celebri, joyo ftivals, workshops, piics, and parti are among the prcipal ponents of LGBTQ Pri Month, also lled Gay Pri, which is celebrated June the Uned Stat and elsewhere around the world.

Pri Month memorat years of stggle for civil rights and the ongog pursu of equal jtice unr the law for the lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer muny, as well as the acplishments of LGBTQ dividuals. For the four years prr to the Stonewall rts, activists Philalphia had staged protts outsi Inpennce Hall on July 4 as “Annual Remrs” that gays and lbians were beg nied basic rights of cizenship. At the Eastern Regnal Conference of Homophile Organizatns Philalphia on November 2, 1969, the ia of a march rponse to the Stonewall events was proposed.

ARE 'THE GAP' STOR NAMED FOR 'GAY AND PROUD'?

Although “gay power” had been proposed as the slogan for the march, was argued that the movement had yet to be polilly empowered but that s members felt great pri their sexual inty. On the day of the New York march, “the world’s first permted para advotg for gay rights” was staged on Hollywood Boulevard Los Angel and a “Gay In” was held Goln Gate Park San Francis.

Thereafter, Gay Pri, or LGBTQ Pri, generally me to be celebrated the Uned Stat on the last Sunday June (though there were many exceptns) as somber march evolved to joyo celebratns. Ernment when Print Bill Clton clared June 1999 “Gay and Lbian Pri Month, ” Print Barack Obama proclaimed June to be “LGBT Pri Month, ” and Print Joe Bin further expand the observance to “Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pri Month.

The film ntas footage of one of the earlit Gay Pri monstratn march, the first Christopher Street Liberatn Day Para, which was held New York Cy a year after the Stonewall rts on June 28, 1970. ”Advertisement - Contue Readg Below5 Glo Butler, Comedian Bridget Badore“What pri means to me is a celebratn of all of our gay and trans anctors that have fought for any of to walk the streets and even have an inty. ”Advertisement - Contue Readg Below7 Jam L, Head of Bs DevelopmentJam L“I am a gay Asian man and proud to be part of the LGBTQ+ muny.

HERE’S A LOOK AT THE GAY DAD’S ON ‘THE PROUD FAY’ REBOOT

Gettg back to Hoton's song, I thk is so praised wh the gay muny not jt bee of the inic late diva herself, but bee of what says: 'I need a man who’ll take a chance, on a love that burns hot enough to last/I wanna dance wh somebody/feel the heat wh somebody who lov me. Ak to the Troop Sport ("To Rule Over Opprsed People") and Adidas ("All Day I Dream About Sex") nards, the mor about The Gap asserts that drew s name om an ializatn of the phrase "Gay And Proud":.

Although The Gap did beg San Francis, a cy home to a large homosexual populatn and strongly associated wh gay pri, s name has nothg to do wh eher of those cint facts.

PRI MONTH: SAY IT LOUD, GAY IS PROUD

"Gay and proud" beme a tchphrase wh the gay muny bee proclaimed a posively-voiced manner that s members took pri who they were rather than feelg ashamed of their liftyle. It wasn't that long ago that ncealg all evince of a same-sex preference was the orr of the day, and the phrase "Gay and proud" th reprented a major shift how a muny viewed both self and the value of s dividual members society.

(It's one thg to wave a "Gay and Proud" sign if you know you're holdg , but que another to fd one has been pned to your back whout your knowledge.

Sce the Proud Fay reboot was announced, fans have been eagerly wag to see the new characters, cludg a pair of gay dads who Billy Porter and Zachary Quto voice. I unrstood how bearg wns to atroci like the AIDS crisis and the do-nothg rponse om the Reagan admistratn would make most any gay person who managed to survive them wary of jog a heterosexual stutn that for thoands of years reerated how much my people didn't belong. In the flurry of analysis that followed, punds hammered home one pot particular: gay marriage might be next on the Supreme Court's choppg block.

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

Let me expla: Right around the first time my feelgs for another girl brought me to my kne, Bh endorsed a nstutnal ban on gay marriage. Another one of her reas ed me more heartache: "Beg gay is hard, " she would tell me whenever I floated hypothetil qutns meant to tt how she might react to possibly, maybe havg a gay dghter. " My mom didn’t want this to be te—she was and remas an outspoken LGBTQ activist—but she knew om the many gay iends she’d loved and lost over a s-long reer theater that jt was.

” Two important gay anthems that me out durg the Obama admistratn, Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and Macklemore's "Same Love, " embraced the notn that homosexualy isn't a choice. It began as a repudiatn agast nversn therapy, which stipulated that, wh a ltle relig shamg, gay people uld choose to bee straight.

Frank Bni summarized the issue wh the born-this-way theory 2012 when he wrote, "By hgg a whole movement on a ncln that hasn’t been—and perhaps won’t be—scientifilly ppoted and proved beyond all doubt, they [gay advot] hch to a movg target. When a childhood iend rmed me that a preppy girl om high school—she drove around a Land Rover wh a big Dubya sticker affixed to s bumper—me out as gay, I rpond wh "Homosexualy is ad, and she murred .

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

" Fdg out a former Bh supporter was a lbian felt like a particularly vlent and unnecsarily personal way to have to learn about homonormativy. The guy who refed to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell and forced a bunch of closeted homosexuals to march to Iraq and Afghanistan?

I rema nstantly disturbed by doctors’ and surance provirs’ need to procs my homosexualy relatn to heterosexualy to unrstand . ”In March, some men will cry the need for an Internatnal Women’s Day, celebrated on the is Pri Month, a time to reflect on and celebrate lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer history.

There is a level of social and systemic privilege not afford to many members of the LGBTQ muny North Ameri, and certaly many untri around the is herently polilPri has been celebrated every year June sce 1970 after the 1969 Stonewall rts New York, when police raid the Stonewall Canada, Toronto’s Pri was lnched siar fashn after protts epted when police raid four bathho Febary 1981 and arrted hundreds of gay motive has always been — and should rema — polil. The slg back of hard-earned rights and protectns of LGBTQ people, particularly transgenr people, is difficult to when straight people ask why there is a need for gay pri or wonr why there aren’t straight pri celebratns, feels a lot like they are sayg ntributns by LGBTQ people — a mory group that fac nstant adversy — are simply not worthy of regnn.

GAY PRI

June is Pri Month, a time to celebrate lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer/qutng, asexual, and tersex (LGBTQAI+) people and their rights. Neverthels, the other stat, the punishments varied om f to prison, and everywhere, society was punishg gay people wh vlence, discrimatn, persecutn, and harassment.

Let’s take a eper dive to how this all me Stonewell Inn and the Change of an Era for the Gay CommunyThe 60s were a difficult time for the gay muny. LGBTQ dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs as plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry. At that time, the Stonewall Inn had bee an important stutn as accepted all members of the gay muny cludg transexuals and drag queens.

HOW ACTIVISTS ORGANIZED THE FIRST GAY PRI PARAS

The legacy of this event is huge as was a galvanizg force for LGBTQ polil activism, leadg to the formatn of numero gay rights anizatns.

The followg year thoands of people marched the streets om Stonewall Inn to Central Park wh the official chant “Say loud, gay is proud”. This march is now nsired the untry’s first gay pri Rabow Flag as a Symbol of Togetherns and InclnYear after year, we have seen how June 28 is an important day for the LGBTQ muny. Celebratg the Progrs In Rights Durg Pri MonthWhile there is still much work to be done the fight for equaly, the gay rights movement the Uned Stat has seen credible progrs the last s.

Not long ago, homosexual activy was nsired a crime many stat, and LGBTQ+ dividuals were forced to hi their inty if they wanted to serve the ary. For this reason, is important to create awarens, learn about them, and support the gay Month Is A Perfect Time To Support The LGBTQ+ CommunyOne way to get volved is to make a donatn to Believe Me, a foundatn for kids.

GAY AND PROUD

The first gay pri march took place New York Cy on June 28, 1970 — the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall holdg Christopher Street Liberatn Day banner, Davi / New York Public LibraryOct. Each week’s feature will clu imag om the New York Public Library’s LGBTQ week, we look back at the untry’s first gay pri march — held New York Cy on June 28, 1970, the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rts — and what led up to that historic Saturday morng on June 28, 1969, police staged a raid at the Stonewall Inn, a mafia-n gay bar New York Cy's Greenwich Village neighborhood. The ps barrid themselv to the bar, and then the gay mob outsi the bar began to throw bricks and rocks toward the door and tried to break through the board up Stonewall Inn, September 1969.

The sign the wdow reads: “WE HOMOSEXUALS PLEAD WITH OUR PEOPLE TO PLEASE HELP MAINTAIN PEACEFUL AND QUIET CONDUCT ON THE STREETS OF THE VILLAGE — MATTACHINE” Diana Davi / New York Public LibraryJt a few days after the Stonewall Rts, gay activist Frank Kameny load up a b wh fellow activists and head down to Philalphia for the fifth “annual remr” picket prott outsi Inpennce Hall.

HOW TO ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE GAY

Acrdg to historian and thor Lillian Farman, the picket protts were “staid” and reflected Kameny’s sire for gay tegratn to society and the workforce. “I thk that was probably Frank’s first realizatn that this was a new orr, thgs were changg, ” Farman days after the "annual remr, " on July 6, 1969, the New York tabloid The Daily News ran a homophobic article about the Stonewall raid by Frank Lisky, tled “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad. ”Activists Lda Rhos, Arlene Khner, and Ellen Davi / New York Public LibrarySoon after the 1969 "remr", four activists — Craig Rodwell, Fred Sargeant, Lda Rhos and Ellen Broidy — cid to attend a regnal “homophile” nference and “propose that the staid ‘annual remrs’ of homophile pickets at Inpennce Hall Philalphia, held every July 4 for the prev five years, be replaced by a march New York Cy, " Farman men were members of the Homophile Youth Movement Neighborhoods, and the women members of Lavenr Menace.

The march stretched 15 blocks — three quarters of a e — at s longt, The New York Tim march end Central Park's Sheep’s Meadow, where the Tim wrote marchers "gathered to prott laws that make homosexual acts between nsentg adults illegal and social ndns that often make impossible for them to display affectn public, mata jobs or rent apartments. ”Michael Brown, who is named by the Tim as a founr of the Gay Liberatn Front, told Tim reporter Lacey Fosburgh: “We have to e out to the open and stop beg ashamed, or else people will go on treatg as eaks.

”At the end of the march, protters gathered Central Park's Sheep's Meadow for a gay "be-"Diana Davi / New York Public LibraryLater that same day, Los Angel held a “Christopher Street Wt” celebratn on Hollywood Boulevard that drew thoands. Pl Hoton reported the Los Angel Tim on the “hour-long, e-long procsn” down Hollywood Boulevard: “Sunday eveng had many thgs — joyo monstrators for sexual rights and digny, some sual attire, others briefs, ‘queens’ drag, ‘fairi’ wh paper wgs, clowns, leather-jacketed motorcyclists, a lbian on horseback, a python, whe hki, Amerin flags, hilar and somber signs and chants, a float pictg a homosexual nailed to the cross.