New Delhi: The LGBT Pride Month or simply Pride Month is generally celebrated in June. The month is dedicated to commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and acknowledging their vital presence in society. The month also gives everyone the platform to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ and prevent discrimination. But how did the celebration of Pride Month begin? It started after the Stonewall riots took place. It was a series of gay liberation protests in 1969.
Why did the riots take place?
Throughout history, LGBTQ people have been sanctioned and legally harassed for their sexual orientation. In the ancient and medieval periods, they were ridiculed, tortured and heavily discriminated mainly based on religion. Homosexuality was called a mental disorder in the 1960s and it was done by clinical diagnoses. All over the US, there were discriminatory laws which banned same-sex relationships and denied basic rights to anyone who was gay or even suspected of being gay. Although there were protests by some gay rights groups against such horrible treatment, many LGBTQ people were forced to live in secret.
However, New York City had a large population of LGBTQ+ people and there was a thriving gay nightlife. People could freely express their sexuality in gay bars, and the activists forced the New York State Liquor Authority to overturn its policy against issuing liquor licenses to gay bars. Incidentally, most of the owners of those pubs were associated with organized crime and they got a chance to increase their already thriving business.
What happened in the Stonewall riots?
The Stonewall Inn was a shady bar with questionable legality in Greenwich Village, the heart of gay life in New York at the time. The Genovese family had given New York’s Sixth Police Precinct bribe so that they would not notice the activities inside the club. The bar was cheap and it welcomed drag queens who received a relatively favourable reception there. It provided a shelter to many homeless gay youths at night and it was one of the few gay bars where dancing was allowed. Raids took place but corrupt cops used to tip off Mafia-run bars before they occurred. The NYPD had raided Stonewall Inn just a few days before the riot-inducing raid.
On June 28, police raided Stonewall Inn much to the surprise of the patrons of the place. The police harassed those patrons and arrested 13 people for keeping bootlegged alcohol. This infuriated the other patrons and neighbourhood residents who were already angered by the constant discrimination that LGBTQ people had to face in society. They remained outside of the bar despite the police threatening them to disperse and soon the situation became violent as the police began to manhandle them. At one point, an officer hit a lesbian over the head as he forced her into the police van. When the lesbian caught the attention of the crowd, people began to attack the police by throwing objects.
Within minutes, a full-blown riot began which involved hundreds of people, forcing the police and a few prisoners to find shelter in the bar. The angry crowd even tried to set the bar on fire. Later, a riot squad and the fire department came to the scene and rescued the police. But for five more days, the protests continued involving thousands of people.
The Stonewall riots added fuel to the fire of LGBTQ political activism and in its aftermath, numerous gay rights organizations were formed. The riots became the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the US and the rest of the world. In 2016, President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets and sidewalks as national monuments.
On June 28, police raided Stonewall Inn much to the surprise of the patrons of the place. The police harassed those patrons and arrested 13 people for keeping bootlegged alcohol. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
