Gay pride
Encyclopedia
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian
, gay
, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT
) people should be proud of their sexual orientation
and gender identity
. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered. The use of the abbreviated gay pride and pride have since become mainstream and shorthand expressions inclusive of all individuals in various LGBT communities
.
The word pride is used in this case as an antonym for shame
, which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons throughout history. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of one's self and the community as a whole. The modern "pride" movement began after the Stonewall riots
in 1969. Instead of backing down to unconstitutional raids by New York City Police Department
, gay people in local bars fought back. While it was a violent situation it also gave the underground
community the first sense of communal pride in a very well publicized incident. From the annual parade that commemorated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots began a national grassroots movement. Today many countries around the world celebrate LGBT pride. The pride movement has furthered the cause of gay rights by lobbying politicians, registering voters, and increasing visibility to educate on issues important to LGBT communities. LGBT pride advocates work for equal "rights
and benefits
" for LGBT people.
Symbols
of LGBT pride include the LGBT rainbow flag
, butterfly, the Greek lambda
symbol, and the pink
, as well as black triangles reclaimed
from their past use
as Nazi concentration camp badges of shame.
as a social identifier, as Western societies have done for the past century. Greek society did not distinguish sexual desire or behavior by the gender of the participants, but by the extent to which such desire or behavior conformed to social norms. These norms were based on gender, age and social status
. "Lesbian
" derives from the name of the island of Lesbos, which was famous for the poetess Sappho
, who wrote love poetry to female lovers. Homosexuality in the ancient Roman Empire
is considered to have been widespread but was tempered by the complex social systems of the society.
During Medieval times
all forms of sexuality began to be repressed by the church as the message of heaven
and hell
gained popularity. Horrible conditions and disease were widespread. Belief among people that they were suffering from the wrath of God
was common, and immorality was blamed. This principle had roots in Roman philosophy. Any and all forms of homosexuality became not only shame
ful but punishable by death. In 390, the first law banning same-sex love was enacted in Rome, making it punishable by death.
, this movement sought to educate the public and to bring about the repeal of Paragraph 175
, a provision of the German Criminal Code begun on the 15th May, 1871, which made homosexual acts between males a crime.
Part of the gay pride movement honors past LGBT
figures who prospered despite persecution for their openness and coming out
of various perceived closets
. There have been notable figures that have fought for or involved themselves in gay rights, or their right to live their lives as they saw fit. Oscar Wilde
is amongst the more famous for his writings as well for his imprisonment for "the love that dare not speak its name
". Quentin Crisp
also battled societal norms to live and love without the fear of arrest. Author of The Naked Civil Servant
, he has become an icon and camp
figure within LGBT
communities and symbol of gay pride for many.
as Nazi Germany began its domination of Europe many people found themselves being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Jesse Barnett, one of the most outspoken activists of the time, perished in 1942 in a concentration camp. The Holocaust
was undertaken with homosexuals as one of the groups targeted with gay men being marked with a pink triangle
badge while lesbians were designated with a black triangle for "antisocial
behavior".
In June 1969, a group of LGBT people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn
, a gay bar
at 43 Christopher Street
, New York City
. Further protests and rioting continued for several nights following the raid. This is considered to have been an important event for the Gay Rights movement.
A 1964 fundraiser on behalf of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH), a group of gay activists and Protestant ministers, held on New Year's Eve at California Hall on Polk Street in San Francisco was the site of the first reported schuffle between activists and police over harassment by officers at the scene. An event ticket taker and three gay lawyers were arrested. At the subsequent court hearing, the court sided with the gay defendants, one of whom, Herb Donaldson, later became a San Francisco municipal court judge.
For three nights in August 1966, LGBT youth rioted in what came to be known as the Compton's Cafeteria Riot
in San Francisco's Tenderloin (101 Taylor Street at Turk).
proposed the first gay pride parade to be held in New York City by way of a resolution at the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations meeting in Philadelphia, along with his partner, Fred Sargeant (HYMN vice chairman), Ellen Broidy, and Linda Rhodes.
All attendees to the ERCHO meeting in Philadelphia PA voted for the march except for Mattachine Society of New York, which abstained. Members of GLF
attended the meeting and were seated as guests of Rodwell's group, Homophile Youth Movement in Neighborhoods (HYMN).
Meetings to organize the march began in early January but at first there was difficulty getting some of the major New York
organizations like GAA to send representatives. Rodwell and a small group consisting of his partner Sargeant, Broidy, Michael Brown
, Marty Nixon, and Foster Gunnison of Mattachine made up the core group of the CSLD Umbrella Committee. For initial funding, Gunnison served as treasurer and sought donations from the national homophile organizations and sponsors, while Sargeant solicited donations via the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop customer mailing list and Nixon worked to gain financial support from GLF
in his position as treasurer for that organization. Other mainstays of the organizing committee were Judy Miller, Jack Waluska, Steve Gerrie and Brenda Howard GLF. Believing that more people would turn out for the march on a Sunday, and so as to mark the date of the start of the Stonewall
uprising, the CSLDUC scheduled the date for the first march for Sunday, June 28, 1970. With Dick Leitsch's replacement as president of Mattachine NY by "Michael Kotis" in April, 1970, opposition to the march by Mattachine ended. This became the first of the extended annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world.
In New York
and Atlanta the annual day of celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riot came to be called Gay Liberation Day; in San Francisco and Los Angeles
it was called Gay Freedom Day. Both names spread as more and more cities and towns started holding similar celebrations.
In the 1980s there was a major cultural shift in the Stonewall Riot commemorations. The previous loosely organized, grassroots marches and parades were taken over by more organized and less radical elements of the gay community. The marches began dropping "Liberation" and "Freedom" from their names under pressure from more conservative members of the community, replacing them with the philosophy of "Gay Pride" (in the more liberal San Francisco, the name of the gay parade
and celebration was not changed from Gay Freedom Day Parade to Gay Pride Day Parade until 1994). The Greek lambda
symbol and the pink triangle
which had been revolutionary symbols of the Gay Liberation Movement, which is headed by were tidied up and incorporated into the Gay Pride, or Pride, movement, providing some symbolic continuity with its more radical beginnings. The pink triangle was also the inspiration for the homomonument
in Amsterdam
, commemorating all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality.
In 2008 the Queen of Spain, Sofia de Grecia was quoted by the writer Pilar Urbano as opposing Gay Pride and to the law on same sex marriage
approved by the Spanish Parliament. The Queen and the Royal House denied it.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton
proclaimed June to be Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
in the United States, and on June 1, 2009, President Barack Obama
proclaimed June to be LGBT Pride month in the United States.
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) people should be proud of their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered. The use of the abbreviated gay pride and pride have since become mainstream and shorthand expressions inclusive of all individuals in various LGBT communities
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
.
The word pride is used in this case as an antonym for shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
, which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons throughout history. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of one's self and the community as a whole. The modern "pride" movement began after the Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
in 1969. Instead of backing down to unconstitutional raids by New York City Police Department
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
, gay people in local bars fought back. While it was a violent situation it also gave the underground
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
community the first sense of communal pride in a very well publicized incident. From the annual parade that commemorated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots began a national grassroots movement. Today many countries around the world celebrate LGBT pride. The pride movement has furthered the cause of gay rights by lobbying politicians, registering voters, and increasing visibility to educate on issues important to LGBT communities. LGBT pride advocates work for equal "rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
and benefits
Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States
According to the United States Government Accountability Office , there are 1,138 statutory provisions in which marital status is a factor in determining benefits, rights, and privileges...
" for LGBT people.
Symbols
LGBT symbols
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Genderqueer communities have adopted certain symbols and symbolates for which they are identified and by which they demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. LGBTQ symbols also communicate ideas, concepts and identity both...
of LGBT pride include the LGBT rainbow flag
Rainbow flag (LGBT movement)
The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in...
, butterfly, the Greek lambda
Lambda
Lambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is related to the Phoenician letter Lamed . Letters in other alphabets that stemmed from lambda include the Roman L and the Cyrillic letter El...
symbol, and the pink
Pink triangle
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by "kind"...
, as well as black triangles reclaimed
Reappropriation
Reappropriation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims—re-appropriates—terms or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. For example, since the early 1970s, much terminology referring to homosexuality—such as gay, queer, and faggot—has been reappropriated...
from their past use
Nazi concentration camp badges
Nazi concentration camp badges, primarily triangles, were part of the system of identification in Nazi camps. They were used in the concentration camps in the Nazi-occupied countries to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. The triangles were made of fabric and were sewn on...
as Nazi concentration camp badges of shame.
History
Pre-modern times
Advocates of gay pride have used history to point to oppression as well as differing levels of acceptance of homosexuality throughout history. The ancient Greeks did not conceive of sexual orientationSexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
as a social identifier, as Western societies have done for the past century. Greek society did not distinguish sexual desire or behavior by the gender of the participants, but by the extent to which such desire or behavior conformed to social norms. These norms were based on gender, age and social status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
. "Lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
" derives from the name of the island of Lesbos, which was famous for the poetess Sappho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
, who wrote love poetry to female lovers. Homosexuality in the ancient Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
is considered to have been widespread but was tempered by the complex social systems of the society.
During Medieval times
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
all forms of sexuality began to be repressed by the church as the message of heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
gained popularity. Horrible conditions and disease were widespread. Belief among people that they were suffering from the wrath of God
Divine retribution
Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or all humanity by a deity in response to some human action.Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing their doom.An example of divine retribution is the...
was common, and immorality was blamed. This principle had roots in Roman philosophy. Any and all forms of homosexuality became not only shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
ful but punishable by death. In 390, the first law banning same-sex love was enacted in Rome, making it punishable by death.
19th century movement in Germany
At the turn of the century in Germany there was an early gay rights movement akin to today's Gay Pride movement. Led by Magnus HirschfeldMagnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which Dustin Goltz called "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights."-Early life:Hirschfeld was born in Kolberg in a...
, this movement sought to educate the public and to bring about the repeal of Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law.The statute was amended several...
, a provision of the German Criminal Code begun on the 15th May, 1871, which made homosexual acts between males a crime.
Notable figures in contemporary history
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
figures who prospered despite persecution for their openness and coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
of various perceived closets
Closeted
Closeted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
. There have been notable figures that have fought for or involved themselves in gay rights, or their right to live their lives as they saw fit. Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
is amongst the more famous for his writings as well for his imprisonment for "the love that dare not speak its name
The love that dare not speak its name
The love that dare not speak its name is a phrase from the poem "Two Loves" by Lord Alfred Douglas, published in 1894. It was mentioned at Oscar Wilde's gross indecency trial, and it is classically interpreted as a euphemism for homosexuality.-See also:...
". Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp
Quentin Crisp , was an English writer and raconteur. He became a gay icon in the 1970s after publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.- Early life :...
also battled societal norms to live and love without the fear of arrest. Author of The Naked Civil Servant
The Naked Civil Servant (book)
The Naked Civil Servant is the first volume of an autobiography by the gay icon Quentin Crisp. It was later turned into a TV movie starring John Hurt, which was also titled The Naked Civil Servant....
, he has become an icon and camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
figure within LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
communities and symbol of gay pride for many.
The Holocaust
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as Nazi Germany began its domination of Europe many people found themselves being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Jesse Barnett, one of the most outspoken activists of the time, perished in 1942 in a concentration camp. The Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
was undertaken with homosexuals as one of the groups targeted with gay men being marked with a pink triangle
Pink triangle
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by "kind"...
badge while lesbians were designated with a black triangle for "antisocial
Anti-social behaviour
Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...
behavior".
Stonewall riots (1960/70s)
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall is an American bar in New York City and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for gay and lesbian rights in the United...
, a gay bar
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
at 43 Christopher Street
Christopher Street (Manhattan)
Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th St. to the west of its intersection with 6th Ave. The Stonewall Inn is located on Christopher Street, and, therefore, the street was at the center of New York's...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Further protests and rioting continued for several nights following the raid. This is considered to have been an important event for the Gay Rights movement.
A 1964 fundraiser on behalf of the Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH), a group of gay activists and Protestant ministers, held on New Year's Eve at California Hall on Polk Street in San Francisco was the site of the first reported schuffle between activists and police over harassment by officers at the scene. An event ticket taker and three gay lawyers were arrested. At the subsequent court hearing, the court sided with the gay defendants, one of whom, Herb Donaldson, later became a San Francisco municipal court judge.
For three nights in August 1966, LGBT youth rioted in what came to be known as the Compton's Cafeteria Riot
Compton's cafeteria riot
The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.A smaller-scale riot broke out in 1959 in Los...
in San Francisco's Tenderloin (101 Taylor Street at Turk).
Pride parades
On November 2, 1969, Craig RodwellCraig Rodwell
Craig L. Rodwell was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop on November 24, 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors and as the prime mover for the creation of the New York City pride demonstration...
proposed the first gay pride parade to be held in New York City by way of a resolution at the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations meeting in Philadelphia, along with his partner, Fred Sargeant (HYMN vice chairman), Ellen Broidy, and Linda Rhodes.
All attendees to the ERCHO meeting in Philadelphia PA voted for the march except for Mattachine Society of New York, which abstained. Members of GLF
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
attended the meeting and were seated as guests of Rodwell's group, Homophile Youth Movement in Neighborhoods (HYMN).
Meetings to organize the march began in early January but at first there was difficulty getting some of the major New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
organizations like GAA to send representatives. Rodwell and a small group consisting of his partner Sargeant, Broidy, Michael Brown
Michael Brown
-Politics:*Michael Brown , current mayor of Grand Forks, North Dakota*Michael Brown , former British Conservative MP, now a political journalist...
, Marty Nixon, and Foster Gunnison of Mattachine made up the core group of the CSLD Umbrella Committee. For initial funding, Gunnison served as treasurer and sought donations from the national homophile organizations and sponsors, while Sargeant solicited donations via the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop customer mailing list and Nixon worked to gain financial support from GLF
Gay Liberation Front
Gay Liberation Front was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots, in which police clashed with gay demonstrators.-The Gay Liberation Front:...
in his position as treasurer for that organization. Other mainstays of the organizing committee were Judy Miller, Jack Waluska, Steve Gerrie and Brenda Howard GLF. Believing that more people would turn out for the march on a Sunday, and so as to mark the date of the start of the Stonewall
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
uprising, the CSLDUC scheduled the date for the first march for Sunday, June 28, 1970. With Dick Leitsch's replacement as president of Mattachine NY by "Michael Kotis" in April, 1970, opposition to the march by Mattachine ended. This became the first of the extended annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world.
In New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Atlanta the annual day of celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riot came to be called Gay Liberation Day; in San Francisco and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
it was called Gay Freedom Day. Both names spread as more and more cities and towns started holding similar celebrations.
1980s to present
The Gay Parade
The Gay Parade is a concept album by the band Of Montreal, their third full-length release. It has been called "indie pop's very own Sgt. Pepper" by Allmusic reviewer Jason Ankeny....
and celebration was not changed from Gay Freedom Day Parade to Gay Pride Day Parade until 1994). The Greek lambda
Lambda
Lambda is the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals lambda has a value of 30. Lambda is related to the Phoenician letter Lamed . Letters in other alphabets that stemmed from lambda include the Roman L and the Cyrillic letter El...
symbol and the pink triangle
Pink triangle
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by "kind"...
which had been revolutionary symbols of the Gay Liberation Movement, which is headed by were tidied up and incorporated into the Gay Pride, or Pride, movement, providing some symbolic continuity with its more radical beginnings. The pink triangle was also the inspiration for the homomonument
Homomonument
The Homomonument is a memorial in the centre of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. It commemorates all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, commemorating all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality.
In 2008 the Queen of Spain, Sofia de Grecia was quoted by the writer Pilar Urbano as opposing Gay Pride and to the law on same sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
approved by the Spanish Parliament. The Queen and the Royal House denied it.
In 2000, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
proclaimed June to be Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month is celebrated each year for the month of June. The last Sunday in June is celebrated as Gay Pride Day. On June 2, 2000, President Bill Clinton declared June "Gay & Lesbian Pride Month". In 2009, 2010, and 2011 U.S...
in the United States, and on June 1, 2009, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
proclaimed June to be LGBT Pride month in the United States.
See also
- Bear communityBear community"Bear" is a LGBT slang term that refers to members of a subculture in the homosexual and bisexual male communities and to an emerging subset of LGBT communities with events, codes, and a culture-specific identity...
- Christopher Street DayChristopher Street DayChristopher Street Day is an annual European LGBT celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBT people, and against discrimination and exclusion. Only Germany and Switzerland use the term CSD, in other countries, the same kind of event is called Gay...
- Craig RodwellCraig RodwellCraig L. Rodwell was an American gay rights activist known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop on November 24, 1967, the first bookstore devoted to gay and lesbian authors and as the prime mover for the creation of the New York City pride demonstration...
- EuroprideEuroprideEuropride is a pan-European international event dedicated to LGBT pride, hosted by a different European city each year. The host city is usually one with an established gay pride event or a significant LGBT community....
- Gay and Lesbian Pride MonthGay and Lesbian Pride MonthGay and Lesbian Pride Month is celebrated each year for the month of June. The last Sunday in June is celebrated as Gay Pride Day. On June 2, 2000, President Bill Clinton declared June "Gay & Lesbian Pride Month". In 2009, 2010, and 2011 U.S...
- Gay shameGay shameGay Shame is a movement from within the LGBT and queer communities described as a radical alternative to gay mainstreaming and directly posits an alternative view of traditional "gay pride" events and activities which have become increasingly commercialized with corporate sponsors and "safer"...
- InterPride / IALGPCInterPride / IALGPCInterPride is one of the few international LGBT entities in operation continuously since the 1980s. InterPride is incorporated in the State of Texas and has been granted Tax Exempt status as a 501 non-profit organization...
- LGBT pride parade
- List of LGBT events
- Pride LibraryPride LibraryThe Pride Library is a collection of books, periodicals, and audio-visual resources by and about gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals, and other queer folk. Located in the D.B. Weldon Library at The University of Western Ontario, the Pride Library is the first official queer resource center at a...
- Sexuality and gender identity-based culturesSexuality and gender identity-based culturesSexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of persons who have shared experiences, background, or interests due to a common sexual or gender identity. Among the first to argue that members of sexual minorities can constitute cultural minorities as well as...
External links
- 2010 Pride Parade Calendar – a large list of 2010 world pride parades with embedded YouTube videos
- List of worldwide Gay Pride events – event info and photos
- LGBT Religious Archives Network Exhibit – The Council on Religion and the Homosexual (CRH)
- Yahoo! Pride – Yahoo!'s Guide to Worldwide LGBT Pride
- Gay Pride Coast To Coast – photos by CBS News
- Gay Pride Photography – images from pride parades worldwide