It is 2024 – What are we celebrating this Pride season?
Written by: britt walsh, Director of Gender Affirming Care at 55 years ago, Marsha P. Johnson threw the first brick at the Stonewall Inn, as police clashed with patrons at the famous NYC gay bar. The LGBTQ Community in New York was familiar with the police raids on queer spaces and by this night in1969, people were tired of the harassment and discrimination. Throwing the brick, bashing back, and literally fighting the police around them, riots ensued, and Stonewall became a catalyst for the LGBTQ rights movement as we know it. Stonewall activists were not the first to challenge the status quo, however this uprising left a larger mark. LGBTQ political activism sprung upward with the formation of numerous gay rights organizations and one year later, on the first anniversary of the riots, thousands of people marched in Manhattan streets in the first ever “Christopher Street Liberation Day. ”The march was considered the first Pride parade, as people chanted “Say it loud, Gay is proud.” Pride season has begun in DC, and with Trans Pride kicking us off in May, I braced myself for another whirlwind year of parades and celebrations in towns and cities of all sizes, around the country.…
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