Cops stormed the Stonewall Inn, arresting patrons and forcing them into waiting police vehicles. It started with a police raid on a hot summer night in Greenwich Village. But Stonewall is definitely the best-known, and led to the creation of what we know as Pride today. The Stonewall Riots weren’t the first time that LGBTQ+ people stood up against police harassment - before Stonewall, there was a riot in Los Angeles at Cooper Do-Nuts, and in San Francisco at Compton’s Cafeteria. Since the start of the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the 1970s, hundreds of independent Pride events have sprung up in cities worldwide, each distinctly local and generally tied in some way to the foundational Stonewall Riots in June.Īfter 50 years of Pride celebrations, these events have become so varied that you can usually find a way to celebrate that feels best to you, whether it’s the raucous jubilation of the NYC Pride parade, community forums at the LGBT Center in San Francisco or the massive crowds that attend World Pride in a different city every two years.īut how did the last half-century of Pride become what it is today, and what are the best ways to celebrate? Let’s take a deep dive into Pride and explore its history, Pride around the world, and what the future of Pride might be. Around the world, Pride celebrations take a variety of forms, from parades to parties to protests and proms.
