History of LGBT Pride
Stonewall

On June 27, 1969 a group of men rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a Gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, New York City. The late Miss Stephen Whittaker a transgender rights activist and founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance, is credited by many as the first to actually strike back at the police and, in so doing, spark the rebellion. Further protests and rioting continued for several nights following the raid. The Stonewall Riots are generally considered to be the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.

Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activist Alliance in the early post-Stonewall era, coordinated the first month anniversary rally and then the "Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March" on the 28th of June 1970 to commemorate the first year anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. First year anniversary marches organized by other groups were also held in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1970.Brenda Howard, a militant activist who has been involved in LGBT rights actions for over three decades, originated the idea for a week-long series of events around what is now known as Pride Day; this became the first of the extended annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world.

The movement had three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that sexual diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.

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Stonewall Inn 1969 photo by Diana Davies, copyright owned by New York Public Library.
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