Pride month is the descendant of the Stonewall Uprising, at least a spiritual descendant.
One June 28, 1968, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn - a gay bar in the city. This was not the first time the LGBT community had been targeted. To put it nicely, this was the start of a series of demonstrations & protests to bring about equality & safe spaces for the LGBT community.
Realistically, what happened at the Stonewall Inn was the culmination of decades (likely generations) of frustrations building up & finally boiling over. Maybe even a full-blown riot but the LGBT community fought back, with drag queens throwing the earliest punches. Marsha P. Johnson was there & ended up being a key figure, both in the Stonewall Uprising & in the LGBT community. Stormé DeLaverie is credited with throwing the first punch at the Stonewall Riots. Witnesses say that Zazu Nova was one of three people, including Marsha, that led the way. Sylvia Rivera freely admitted to not being the one who started the uprising but witnesses talk about her importance to the uprising.
In the years after, Marsha was an AIDS & gay rights activist, as well as opening a shelter for LGBT youth. Stormé was a member of the Jewel Box Revue, the only racially inclusive drag troupe at the time. Zazu was a founding member of the New York Gay Youth - a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth. Sylvia became a transgender rights activist after Stonewall & also worked with Marsha to open the shelter for LGBT youth. The events at the Stonewall Inn led to the founding of multiple groups, focused on LGBTQ+ rights.
Over the years, others have stepped up to move things forward, to inspire, & to continue to work towards equity & equality.
Pride events started happening in 1970, the year after Stonewall. Unfortunately, Pride has gone a bit corporate over the years but it still stands as a reminder of the strength of the LGBTQ+ community, of LGBTQ+ history, & of resistance.
The Quincy Public Library has been happy to have a Pride display up this year, as we have in years past. We have books & movies about the Stonewall Riots & about Marsha P. Johnson, Syvia Rivera, & of course, so many others. Access is also available on Kanopy, Libby, & Hoopla.