Hi everyone,
In June we were told that our theme going forward with blog posts for the month of July would be intersectionality and history. At this time I was neck deep in Pride campaigns for the PR agency I am interning with this summer. I was having numerous conversations at work about how brands can provide support to the LGBTQ+ community that feels authentic and avoid having their actions being labeled as “rainbow washing.” The answer to this question always came down to how we can extend our support beyond June 30th, because ultimately, Pride is practiced, struggled with and celebrated daily for LGBTQ+ folks.
So why is June known as pride month? It’s not an arbitrary time frame but actually a commemoration of those who came before and paved a path for love.
The First Pride March:
The first pride “parade” took place on June 28, 1970. These marches held in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles honored the one year anniversary of the stonewall uprising.
The Stonewall Uprising:
The Stonewall uprising, also known as The Stonewall Riot, began on June 28, 1969, just after the New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village. Patrons and residents of the neighborhood began to protest as police forcibly removed people from the bar. The riots latest for a total of six days and is still celebrated as a turning point for Gay liberation, although the movement had been growing up until this point.
There are varying accounts of what happened at Stonewall that night and while this moment is is often credited with kickstarting the LGBTQ+ movement, activists and scholars urge us to remember that queer history and liberation is just as nuanced and layered as any other form of history.
So, it is our due diligence to combat the historical erasure of minority groups in searching for first hand accounts that have been left untampered with. So, to learn more about Stonewall from those that lived it and studied it (and debunk a myth or two you learned from well intentioned instagraphic):