The first Pride parade was set off from Stonewall on June 28, 1970, the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. We’re going to create a community where you wouldn’t allow us to have community.” The rainbow colours have been associated with the LGBTQ community for decades, with the rainbow flag being the most common symbol of Gay Pride.
And it was that night that we said to the police, ‘We are taking our street back. Speaking about the same, Mark Segal, one of the LGBTQ people outside Stonewall Inn that night, told ET, “We were enraged because, in a sense, 2,000 years of repression built up in us. This uprising became a catalyst for upcoming gay rights movements, launching a new era of resistance. While such raids on gay establishments had occurred prior to this event, the members of the LGBTQ community decided to resist arrest this time and threw bottles and coins at the officers, which soon broke into neighbourhood riots.
At that time, homosexual acts were illegal in almost every US state. The cops arrested the employees for selling alcohol without a license, and also anyone not wearing at least three articles of gender-appropriate clothing. In the wee hours of June 28, 1969, nine policemen raided the Stonewall Inn – a well-known gathering place for young gay men, lesbians and transgenderpeople – in Greenwich village, Manhattan.
