Officially, Pride started as a response to the raid and closing of The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, in the very early morning hours of June 28th, 1969. The police forcefully escorted employees and bar patrons out of the bar, inciting a riot. The following six days of clashes with police outside the bar sparked a movement. People were fed up with being treated like they were something to be shunned and hidden. And while Stonewall wasn’t the first time the LGBTQ+ community spoke out - it was certainly the loudest. History The Year The Stonewall Inn Gay Bar was raided 1969 In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors - making him the very first openly gay person to hold a public office in a major American city. Harvey Milk challenged Gilbert Baker, a Kansas-born artist, to create a symbol of pride for the gay community. A more positive alternative to the pink triangle, which had been used by nazis to identify homosexuals and had been reclaimed by the queer community in the 70s. The sign left by police right after the raid. It’s now framed and hung just inside of the entrance to The Stonewall Inn. Wikipedia.org 1st Pride parade in the U.S 1970 1st Openly Gay Person in public office 1977 “The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope.” HARVEY MILK Gilbert Baker began work, stitching together eight strips of color into a flag. Hot pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. The community instantly latched onto the flag - it was theirs. When Gilbert Baker reached out to the Paramount Flag Company to produce the flags, the hot pink stripe had to be removed because the fabric wasn’t readily available, which is why you don’t see it on the flag today. The year following the riot, on June 28th, 1970, the very first gay Pride parades took place as thousands of people marched from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Chicago. The following year saw marches in Dallas, Boston, Milwaukee, and internationally in Stockholm, London, West Berlin, and Paris. Years later, in 2016, the Stonewall Inn and surrounding area were designated a national monument, honoring the site’s history and significance. However, the birth of the flag has sparked the design of dozens of other flags for the LGBTQ+ community and has evolved to include black and brown to represent people of color and white, pink, and light blue to represent trans, non-binary, and intersex folks, designed by Daniel Quasar. These designs can be seen around the world today. Gilbert Baker designed the original pride flag 1978 U.S Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage 2015 Daniel Quasar re-designed the pride flag 2018
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