Proud in Pride: A Celebration of Gay History
Proud in Pride
In just a few short weeks, communities around the world will gather for LGBT pride, marking the 45th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the gay rights movement. This year they achieved major victories, through judicial and legislative actions, striking down DOMA as unconstitutional and victories advancing the fight for same-sex marriage the LGBT community is proud in pride and primed to celebrate. This year, while we gather to celebrate our most recent accomplishments we should take a moment to pause and recall generations before us. It was the altruistic acts and sacrifices of generations that blazed a trail to our success and to be proud in pride is to respect our brother and sisters that gave us the courage to discover our voice and be tried. The LGBT community is ready, they are proud in pride and primed to celebrate as Pride 2014 is nearly here.
Proud in Pride: Stonewall
It is hard to imagine that events that unfolded the night of June, 28, 1969. Located in Greenwich Village, Stonewall Inn would be the site constituting the single most important event leading to gay liberation and today’s gay rights movement. The remainder of the decade became very contentious as civil rights and antiwar demonstrations became very active social movements and Gay Americans faced a legal scheme that was more hostile than communist countries provided the catalyst for the Stonewall Riots.
It was difficult to find establishments that would cater to homosexuals during the 1950s and 1960s and those establishments that did many times were bars. Stonewall Inn has seen a variety of patrons, but proved to be most popular among the queer community, especially those marginalized within the community and included, drag queens, sissy men, male prostitutes and homeless youth.
During this time, police raids were common and at 1:20 4 plainclothes officers, two uniformed policemen and a detective arrived at Stonewall Inn and what had been contrived as a routine raid, quickly incited a riot. In a show of solidarity the community of Greenwich Village assembled, joining those patrons of Stonewall Inn, fighting back against harassment and brutality.
The resulting aftermath seen the gay liberation move forward, provided courage to those who wanted to speak out their sexuality and unbeknownst to those who took place in the rioting and demonstrations would be birth to the modern gay rights movement. An homage to those who faced adversity face to face, finding the courage to speak out and the bravery in fighting back is THE reason for being proud and pride.
Proud in Pride: A Look Back
The homosexual community has faced adversity for centuries and even though it is easy for us to remember our most recent victories, it is important to remind ourselves that our campaign started way before the events at Stonewall. Our story is rich and remembering our brothers and sisters from generations ago has embodied the heart of genuine pride and taking a look back is being proud in pride.
Proud in Pride: Pink Triangle
Today, the pink triangle is a popular and widely recognized symbol of the queer rights front, representing solidarity, pride and community, but during WWII the inverted pink triangle was a badge worn by homosexuals convicted under Paragraphs 174, 175, and 176
Based on a simple classification system of color-coded geometric figures, all prisoners were assigned a specific color based on the reason for their incarceration. The color code included green, assigned to professional criminals, political prisoners wore red, purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, black for asocials, blue was assigned to forced labor and brown was worn by gypsies.
In the span of a generation, a symbol that once represented oppression and homophobia has become an international symbol for gay rights, where its purpose was to oppress those of a generation ago is today a symbol of pride and solidarity and will be a reminder of the courage shown a generation before, and to be proud in pride is to honor those before us.
