Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month gained its beginnings when President Bill Clinton acknowledged June 2000 as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
Since then, President Barack Obama has acknowledged June as LGBT Pride Month in every year of his presidency. This year,
President Obama released his official statement declaring June 2015 LGBT Pride month on May 29th.
June was not chosen arbitrarily to honor the LGBT community. The Stonewall Riots, which occurred in June of 1969, are viewed as the beginning of the modern-day LGBT rights movement.
On June 28, 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay club that happened to be serving alcohol without a license. The rioting began when onlookers threw bottles at police officers while watching several drag queens being arrested and forced into a police vehicle. Two policemen sustained minor injuries and gay pride demonstrations took place in New York City for days.
The Stonewall Inn, which is referred to as the place “where pride began,” still stands and operates as a gay club in New York City.
In remembrance on the Stonewall Riots, this year’s 2015 annual Gay Pride March falls on June 18, exactly 46 years after the landmark event.
LGBT Pride Month festivities are not unique to New York, however. Parades, demonstrations, fundraisers, and other festivals to incite LGBT pride and awareness are being held in cities throughout the United States including D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles.
“We mark 45 years since the patrons of the Stonewall Inn defied an unjust policy and awakened a nascent movement, let us honor every brave leader who stood up, sat in, and came out, as well as the allies who supported them along the way. Following their example, let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity -- because if hearts and minds continue to change over time, laws will too,” said President Obama in his 2014 LGBT Pride Month announcement last June.
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