Hello friends,
In case you have missed it so far, June is “Pride Month.” You have probably noticed all the rainbow iconography that is all over social media and various marketing platforms. I have to admit, this is the first year I have been so overwhelmed by the support for our community- in a good way!
Instagram and Facebook now let you choose your gender pronouns. Zillow updated their app to have LGBTQIA+ Pride colors on your home screen. Conversations are being held openly and at length about inclusion and gay rights. It feels like a breath of fresh air.
But let’s remember that this is a month for the masses, but for our community there are 11 other months in the year that we still struggle for recognition. Please don’t misunderstand me, I am thrilled that we have this opportunity to share our culture and run around in bold, shameless costumes, nearly naked and kissing the ones we love in public. But what I would like to see more of is the use of Pride to share our community’s long and history.
So let’s start. I want to take you back before there were parades, parties or Pride. Our story begins June 28th, 1969 in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. A quiet local bar called The Stonewall Inn was a hangout for members of an underground group of cross-dressing queers, lesbians and gays. The police raided bars like this all around, violently, forcing patrons to wash their faces in buckets of urine. It was a different time when no one felt they could speak up. However, this was about to change. On this particular day in the early morning hours, the police came to raid the Stonewall Inn. Marsha P. Johnson, a very proud, vocal and kind black “transvestite” (as she used to call herself) said “No More!!!” She is credited with throwing the first liquor bottle at the police, fighting back finally, and igniting a fire that became a spontaneous civil rights riot that is now known as “The Stonewall Riots.”
One Queen. One liquor bottle. One voice. That was all it took to change history; to start a movement; to build a community. Because of her bravery, we are able to celebrate Pride openly and boldly. Marsha was the founder of the Gay Liberation Front and co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). She was the face of Christopher street and we owe so much to her.
Marsha’s body was found floating in the Hudson River in July of 1992. We suspect she was murdered, but nothing was ever done to look into her case. That is the sad truth for the most vulnerable of our communities. This incredible black drag advocate that changed our world was “just another dead queer” to the police at that time.
We may never know what happened to Marsha. But we can keep her legacy alive by sharing the story of her bravery, her heart- and her PRIDE.
Your Fan,
Jacob Reide