The story behind Pride - remembering Stonewall

Every year the month of June we celebrate Pride. It’s a time when we recognise, celebrate and promote dignity, visibility and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Pride marks one of the most pivotal moments in the history of human rights: the Stonewall Riots of 1969. This was when the struggle began in earnest for LGBTQ+ people to be recognised and allowed to be themselves, free of persecution and prosecution. It’s an incredible tale that’s as heartbreaking as it is uplifting and inspiring. Essentially a story of good prevailing over evil, it’s still a battle, as we’re about to find out, that’s a long way from being won. Back in 1969, just about everything about being gay, bisexual or transgender in America was illegal. These were dark times for the millions of Americans who identified as LGBTQ+.

A year later when things still hadn’t improved for the community, the Stonewall Anniversary March – effectively the first LGBT Pride – was organised and a movement was born. Today Pride has grown into a month-long festival that takes place all over the world, and New York proudly sits at its epicentre. Draped from head to toe in the rainbow flag, the Big Apple has become one of the welcoming and inclusive cities in the world.

We started at at the famous inn, where our guide Sara gave a moving account of that night, the events leading up to it and what happened on the following nights (more riots). Other highlights include Julius, the oldest gay bar in the city, where the Mattichine society held a gay ‘sip in’ to protest about the fact that it was illegal to serve homosexuals at the time, and The NYC AIDS Memorial Park, the memorial to all the people who died of AIDS and those who treated them. Back in New York at the peak of the epidemic, St Vincent’s Hospital was one of the only medical facilities that would admit and treat those dying of AIDS. Controversially, several of its buildings have been developed into upmarket apartments, but in its shadow, AIDS Park is an uplifting space and somewhere for quiet reflection. We ended up at the Stonewall National Monument, just opposite the inn. This vibrant space used to be called Christopher Park and was always a meeting place for the community. It was declared a New York City landmark in 2015 and, in one of his last acts as president, Barack Obama made it a National Monument, the first designated as an LGBT historic site. This means it is cared for by park rangers who’ve been doing a fantastic job creating a joyful space and decking it out for Pride in countless rainbow flags.