Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which launched the modern LGBT-rights movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re not familiar with the riots, here\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We owe everything to those brave trans-women of color, homeless youth and drag queens who launched the riots and the queer revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People ask why we celebrate pride. \u00a0NoFo writes it much more eloquently than I ever could,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/nofo.blogspot.com\/2011\/06\/what-hell-do-gay-people-have-to-be.html\">here is an excerpt<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>We\u2019re proud because despite relentless persecution everywhere we turn\u2014when organized religion viciously attacks and censures and vilifies us in the name of selective morality, when our families disown us, when our elected officials bargain away our equality for hate votes, when entire states codify our families into second-class citizenship, when our employers fire us, when our landlords evict us, when our police harass us, when our neighbors and colleagues and fellow citizens openly insult and condemn and mock and berate and even beat and kill us\u2014we continue to survive.<br>…<br>We\u2019re proud because\u2014thanks to the incredible bravery shown by gay people who lived their lives openly in the decades before us\u2014we can live our lives more and more openly at home, at work, with our families, on our blogs \u2026 and even on national television.<br>…<br>We\u2019re proud because after all we\u2019ve been through, the world is starting to notice and respect us and emulate the often fabulous culture we\u2019ve assembled from the common struggles and glorious diversity of our disparate lives.<\/em><\/p><p><em>We\u2019re proud because this weekend we\u2019ll celebrate with drag queens, leather queens, muscle queens, attitude queens and you\u2019d-never-know-they-were-queens queens, and together we can see through the \u201cpride\u201d in our parade and enjoy the underlying Pride in our parade.<\/em><\/p><p><em>Quite simply, we\u2019re proud that we have so much to be proud of.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We can take some time, and even in the face of hatred, bigotry and discrimination, we can carve a place in this world, claim it our own and celebrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can celebrate,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/joemygod.blogspot.com\/2014\/06\/watching-defectives.html\">because this is our party<\/a>. \u00a0We don’t need anyone’s permission to celebrate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Because even if Pride doesn’t change many minds in the outside world, it’s our PARTY, darlings. It’s our Christmas, our New Year’s, our Carnival. It’s the one day of the year that all the crazy contingents of the gay world actually come face to face on the street and blow each other air kisses. And wish each other “Happy Pride!” Saying “Happy Pride!” is really just a shorter, easier way of saying “Congratulations on not being driven completely batshit insane! Well done, being\u00a0YOURSELF!”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We can celebrate the community that we have, the radical acceptance that we embody and the fact that we\u2019ve survived. \u00a0We have a chance to come together, remind ourselves we belong to a larger community, have some fun and take back our city; just for a little bit. \u00a0We know that hatred will continue, but still we march forward. \u00a0We have pride because it helps those coming after us. \u00a0In the words of Harvey Milk, it gives the next generation hope: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Harvey Milk Day - Hope!\" width=\"1098\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fWo8BKJCxYQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is a chance to celebrate the fact that I\u2019ve survived. A chance to celebrate the fact that I\u2019m a proud gay man. And even that act, powerful unto itself, has hopefully <a href=\"http:\/\/goodmenproject.com\/featured-content\/hesaid-stand-up-be-visible-contribute-to-the-solution\/?utm_source=feedly\">made a difference<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important and powerful action a person can make is to come out to those around them. Then the LGBT community isn\u2019t a scary abstract anymore, it has a face. If you know someone who is openly LGBT, you see their humanity. You can understand that we\u2019re not asking for anything special, just the same rights everyone else is guaranteed by the constitution. A chance to be happy. A chance to live the life we want, surrounded by those we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When will we stop\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/joemygod.blogspot.com\/2013\/04\/frank-bruni-knows-when-gay-people-will.html?utm_source=feedly\">talking about coming out?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>“Many of us want to, and will: when a gay, lesbian or transgendered kid isn\u2019t at special risk of being brutalized or committing suicide.<br>\u2026<br>“When a gay person\u2019s central-casting earnestness and eloquence aren\u2019t noted with excitement and relief, because his or her sexual orientation needn\u2019t be accompanied by a litany of virtues and accomplishments in order for bigotry to be toppled and a negative reaction to be overcome.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>We will stop talking about coming out when it\u2019s not news anymore, when the last barriers have finally been broken down. We\u2019ll stop screaming for our rights when we\u2019re finally treated as equals by our government. We\u2019ll only stop telling our stories when they don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The anniversary of Stonewall comes just two days after marriage equality came to all 50 states (and the anniversary of decisions in Lawrence v. Texas and Windsor v. United States), a major piece of the equality dream the our predecessors had 50 years ago. \u00a0In 11 years, we went from no marriage rights to full equality across the country. \u00a0We still have a lot to fight for, The Equality Act being at the top of that list, but for now, we can celebrate the ‘thunderbolt’ of equality that we have achieved:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1098\" height=\"618\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WSiehK2asbI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So we keep fighting for progress, wherever we can. We celebrate our advances and keep chipping away at our obstacles: and this month we can celebrate both, as well as the individuals that make up our amazing community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In light of the Orlando massacre, it’s more important than ever to celebrate Pride. \u00a0To not be intimidated by the hate, but to instead keep rising, demand equality and fight for our very right to exist. \u00a0What hurts the most about Orlando may be the reminder that even our own spaces, which we thought were safe, aren’t. \u00a0Or maybe they never really were, not while hatred and prejudice still exist. \u00a0But as we face, united, the epidemics of gun violence and homophobia, we can at least take solace in the fact that we, as a community, know how to win epidemics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the first year in history where we (at least in the United States), have less rights than we did last year. The horrific and systematic attacks by this administration, and Republicans across the country, has shown that we cannot take anything for granted. But we are resilient, and we are a community. We’re a chosen family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re proud of how far we\u2019ve come. We\u2019re proud to keep fighting. We\u2019re proud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which launched the modern LGBT-rights movement. If you\u2019re not familiar with the riots, here\u2019s what happened: We owe everything to those brave trans-women of color, homeless youth and drag queens who launched the riots and the queer revolution. People ask why we celebrate pride. \u00a0NoFo writes it much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-king-of-spades"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3522"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3525,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3522\/revisions\/3525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}