Celebrating International LGBT Pride Day!

International LGBT Pride Day June 28, 2024

In honor of International LGBT Pride Day, our Culture of Inclusion Committee curated a list showcasing local businesses and LGBT community centers to encourage support & understanding. Allyship starts with understanding. According to a February 2022 Gallup poll, 7.2% of American adults identify as LGBTQ. Everyone can champion and elevate this vibrant community, and anyone can be an ally throughout the year.

Read below to learn more about the history of Pride month and find resources to help support the community.

Remembering Stonewall Inn

Following the upheaval of World War II, many people in the United States wished to restore the social order, and homosexuality was the main target. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the FBI and police departments kept lists of known homosexuals, their favored establishments, and names of their friends and family.

Bars catering to homosexuals were shut down and their customers were arrested, and their identities exposed to the public. Cities performed “sweeps” to rid neighborhoods, parks, bars, and beaches of anyone appearing homosexual. Homosexuality remained listed in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) until 1974.

The social repression of the 1950s resulted in a cultural revolution in Greenwich Village, home to Stonewall Inn; where, in the early hour mornings of June 28, 1969, police raided the bar.

LGBT people and allies alike were arrested (including Bob Dylan’s mentor, Dave Van Ronk), handcuffed, and very publicly forced into police cars waiting outside. Witnesses were moved to push back, and the riots lasted six days. Stonewall Inn closed six months later.

Marsha P. Johnson and the Birth of LGBT Activism

One of the participants of these riots was Marsha P. Johnson, a well-known drag queen and regular of the Stonewall Inn. Johnson’s exact role isn’t known. She was initially credited with throwing the first brick of resistance, but this was later disproven by her own account as the riots had begun when she arrived.

Whatever her direct role in the riots, Marsha is considered a key participant and vanguard of the LGBTQ liberation movement in the United States. Johnson founded STAR, Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries, with longtime friend Sylvia Rivera. STAR was groundbreaking to queer history and is often cited as a prime example of post-Stonewall activism.

Historic Recognition

On June 24, 2016, The Stonewall Inn was officially recognized as a National Historic Landmark by President Barack Obama. It is the first LGBT National Historic Landmark in History.

In 1999, US President Bill Clinton declared the anniversary of Stonewall as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. In 2011, President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include the whole of the LGBT community.

Pride Month is also observed in several LGBT-affirming religious congregations such as Christianity (Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian), Quakerism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Paganism, and traditional religions in the Pacific Islands and Philippines.

Local LGBT Businesses to Support this Month:

Business Directory | Compass LGBTQ+ Community Center

Art Galleries & Studios:

Home – Fused In Glass Studio and Classes

Welcome (theboxgallery.info)

Benzaiten Center for Creative Arts – Connect Commuicate Inspire

Retail:

WagPride – Live. Laugh. Wag

The William Wright Collection

Home | austintatiousdesigns (adfloricouture.com)
Home | varito (varoflowers.com)

Beauty:
Justin & Greg’s Beauty (justingreg.com)

Hair by Dannielle & co (hbdandco.com)