Can you imagine being locked up behind a door and not able to show your true self?
Can you imagine losing your right for being your true self? On Sunday, June 25, hundreds of thousands hit the street to join the San Francisco's Pride Parade to celebrate the gains made in the struggles of equality but also remind us that there’s always more to push forward. This year’s parade focused on celebrations of diversity and demand for equality. This year marks the 47th annual parade, but how did everything start?
It was New York City in the 1960s when it was a crime to display as “homosexual” in public. One could easily be arrested for serving gay people liquor or dancing with someone of the same sex. Men are not allowed to wear drag and women are not allowed to have less than three pieces of “feminine” clothing. In 1966, Stonewall Inn opened and soon became a place where everyone could come in and dance regardless of identity and sexuality. The spark started three years later as nine police man break into Stonewall Inn to arrest employees for selling alcohol without a license, handcuffed many of its patrons, cleared the bar and took several people into custody. The Stonewall Riot soon became well known in the LGBT community, and it shouts to them that the LGBT movement needs to be louder, better and more visible. A year later, on June 28, 1970, the first “pride parade” was set up. There were no floats, no music, no sexy boys, but a masses of people holding banners, signs and a wave of chants. Soon the riots ensued and sparked a global movement. The first gay pride parade in Downtown, San Francisco was held on June 25, 1972, and police reported 15,00 spectators. The whole parade was filled with self-confidence, celebratory, and a spirit that passed on and continues today.
The gay right movement had evolved many from San Francisco. With the first openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California in 1978, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco city supervisor, gave a never before experience to the LGBT community. Milk had made much speech that focuses on how similar gay people are to everyone else and aim to get the right back that was taken away from them.
During the past years, the LGBTQ community had gained a lot to celebrate over. Same sex marriage had become legal. Oregon elected nation’s first openly bisexual governor. Caitlyn Jenner and others had pushed the door for transgenders, and now transgenders can even participate in militaries. However with the election of President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and several anti-gay cabinet members that come with them, many realized that these gain could easily be taken over. That’s why we should raise and show our voice in Gay Pride Parade.
8 WU
8 WU