Episode 124
From Stonewall to Today: The History of Pride Month
In this encore episode from 2021, Heather shares an overview of Pride history, including the Stonewall Riots, why the pink triangle is a global symbol, and how the rainbow flag became the symbol for LGBTQ+ pride. She begins with the following anonymous quote:
"LGBTQ pride was not born of a need to celebrate being LGBTQ, but our right to exist without persecution. So instead of wondering why there isn't a straight pride, be thankful you don't need one."
If this episode piques your curiosity about the history of Pride, check out some of Heather's favorite resources:
Websites
* them.
Books
Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights
Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement
What was Stonewall? (One of the "What was? Who was? books)
Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBTQ Rights Uprising That Changed America
Connect with Heather:
The Perfect Holiday Gift! Give a copy of Heather's new book, Parenting with Pride.
Get Your *free* Holiday Survival Guide
Access the course, Learning to Parent with Pride!
Work with Heather one-on-one or bring her into your organization to speak or run a workshop!
Please subscribe to, rate, and review Just Breathe. And, as always, please share with anyone who needs to know they are not alone!
Email: hh@chrysalismama.com
Takeaways:
- Pride Month serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ rights and visibility.
- The history of Pride dates back to the Stonewall Riots, marking a significant turning point for LGBTQ activism.
- Understanding the origins of symbols like the pink triangle and rainbow flag is crucial for appreciating LGBTQ history.
- Engaging in activism and allyship is vital, not just during Pride Month but throughout the entire year.
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of community, education, and love in the fight against discrimination.
- Pride is not only a celebration of achievements but also a call to action for future progress.
Transcript
Welcome back, my friends and Happy Pride Month.
Speaker A:If this is your first time here, I am delighted you found Just Breathe.
Speaker A:We talk all things loving, raising and empowering LGBTQ people.
Speaker A:But at the core, it is a space for you to take a breath, quiet all of the noise around you, and just be.
Speaker A:Even though every episode of Just Breathe is a celebration of Pride, Pride Month episodes are a special time to really honor those who fought so hard to give all LGBTQ people the visibility, the voices, the representation, and the rights they have.
Speaker A:Today we honor them to encourage the strength, courage and fortitude to keep fighting.
Speaker A:There are currently 515 anti LGBTQ bills in different stages of process in state legislatures across the US that's 515 too many.
Speaker A:That's why each and every voice is so important.
Speaker A:LGBTQ peoples and allies alike.
Speaker A:We have 30 days of focus time every June.
Speaker A:How can we use our voices to affect positive change?
Speaker A:How can we take the momentum from June and make it last all year?
Speaker A: k at an episode that I did in: Speaker A:In it, I share an in depth look at the history of Pride.
Speaker A:Listen in and let this inspire action and the fortitude to keep moving forward.
Speaker B:Happy Pride Month.
Speaker B:I am so happy you all are here.
Speaker B:This month holds really deep meaning for everyone in the LGBTQ community, as well as those of us who are allies and advocates.
Speaker B:I consider it an honor and a great responsibility, really, to share a few pieces of the history of Pride with you all today.
Speaker B:Two years ago, a few people really close to me were questioning the existence of Pride.
Speaker B:It was around the same time that Straight Pride parades were popping up around the country, which you may remember.
Speaker B:Which of course led many uninformed or unaware people to challenge the existence of Pride.
Speaker B:In my effort to find really good answers, I came across an anonymous quote that has stuck with me ever since.
Speaker B:LGBTQ Pride was not born of a need to celebrate being lgbtq, but our right to exist without persecution.
Speaker B:So instead of wondering why there isn't a Straight Pride movement, be thankful you don't need one.
Speaker B:So simple and so powerful, right?
Speaker B:The right to exist without persecution, to love who you love without judgment, to live authentically without discrimination.
Speaker B:Up to that point, my answer had always been seeing and knowing what my child has been through, what Connor had been through and was going through, the self loathing, the loss of friends, the questioning of his existence, really just saying this is not a choice.
Speaker B:Embracing one's authentic self without persecution is a right.
Speaker B:And while this is all true, this response was from my mama Bear Heart.
Speaker B:And based on our family's experience, having a community, a movement, and facts to back up, my wildly protective and empathetic energy is a gift that I am grateful for every single day.
Speaker B:Pride is a celebration of how far the LGBTQ community has come in the past 50 years.
Speaker B:Oh my goodness, 50 years since the official inception.
Speaker B:And how far humanity has come over several millennia.
Speaker B:Pride is also a time to highlight the work and shifting that still needs to be done, not just in June, but 365 days a year.
Speaker B:It is a time to embrace the beauty of every member of this community, to educate tirelessly, to empower our LGBTQ loved ones and each other, and to love.
Speaker B:Because love always conquers hate.
Speaker B:There are dozens of books, articles, websites and videos that share the extraordinary history of Pride, and they are available for all ages, from our littlest ones all the way through our oldest generations.
Speaker B:And as always, I will list my favorites for you in the show Notes, but I highly recommend that you pick at least one to read or watch or listen to, or share.
Speaker B:What I'm sharing today is an overview.
Speaker B:There are so many fascinating stories and interesting tidbits that I couldn't fit in today's show, and if you have been listening to me for any amount of time, you know that I have completely lost myself researching the depth of this topic.
Speaker B:But most of what I will be sharing comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica and the History Channel, with colorful editions from Pride.com, the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG.
Speaker B:So let's get into it.
Speaker B: e in New York City in June of: Speaker B:At that time, homosexuality was illegal in every state except Illinois, and bars and restaurants could be shut down for having gay employees or serving gay customers.
Speaker B:In New York City's Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn was considered a safe haven for the city's gay, lesbian and transgender community because most gay bars and clubs were run by the Mafia, who used blackmail and other tactics to keep law enforcement away.
Speaker B:Police raids were still very common, but for whatever reason, on that very hot June night, the LGBTQ community decided to fight back.
Speaker B:There are many, many stories and speculations of exactly what happened that evening, but no written account exists.
Speaker B:And of course it was decades before smartphones.
Speaker B:But what most seem to agree upon is based on witness accounts, and that is that plain clothes police officers entered the Stonewall Inn that Evening singling out drag queens for arrest.
Speaker B:Dressing in drag or masquerading was also illegal.
Speaker B:True transgender women of color, Marsha P.
Speaker B:Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, were the first to resist arrest and to throw the first bottle or brick or stone, depending on which story you're listening to.
Speaker B:Nonetheless, they resisted.
Speaker B:They threw something, and that ignited the crowd.
Speaker B:History shifted in that moment.
Speaker B:The Stonewall Inn opened the next day, despite being destroyed by the police and the rioting.
Speaker B:And that night, an even larger crowd was there to resist and revolt.
Speaker B:This continued over the next few nights, with larger crowds showing up each night.
Speaker B:While the violence and the confrontations diminished the activism and the strength and the spirit of the gay community only got stronger.
Speaker B:One year later, the first Gay Pride parade started at the doorstep of the Stonewall Inn.
Speaker B:What originated as a gathering of activists grew into a crowd of several thousand supporters, spanning 15 blocks in Manhattan.
Speaker B:As the news spread, Gay Pride parades popped up in la, San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago that year, and they've grown across the country over the past 50 years.
Speaker B: ment that actually started in: Speaker B:German immigrant Henry Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights.
Speaker B: e it was forced to disband in: Speaker B:It was the courage of Gerber and so many like him that gave voice, visibility, and validity to the LGBTQ community.
Speaker B:These are the bits of history that are so important to remember.
Speaker B:We know the experience of the LGBTQ community now, and yes, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Speaker B:But understanding, appreciating, and honoring the sacrifice and courage of all those who blazed this trail, knowing they would be judged, condemned, and persecuted, all for standing up for the right to be who they were created to be.
Speaker B:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker B:It just gives such clarity and meaning to how we move forward.
Speaker B:Right, so there's just so much I want to share with you, but ultimately, I know it is easier to digest new information and small pieces, so I have opted to give you the history of the pink triangle and the pride flag.
Speaker B:So, as you may know, the pink triangle is now a global symbol for Gay Pride.
Speaker B:But did you know that it was originally intended as a literal badge of shame?
Speaker B:During World War II, the Nazis would sew an upside down pink triangle on the shirts of gay men in concentration camps as a way not only to single them out for torture, but also to further dehumanize them.
Speaker B: According to history.com, in: Speaker B:Post war Germany's first gay rights organization, haw, reclaimed the pink triangle as a symbol of liberation.
Speaker B:It is now worn, tattooed, displayed, and proudly used as a symbol of gay pride.
Speaker B:And finally, we have the Pride flag.
Speaker B:It is not uncommon to see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed as a symbol for the LGBT LGBTQ rights movement, especially during June.
Speaker B:But more and more, you see it all year round.
Speaker B:There are now multiple versions of it.
Speaker B:But have you ever wondered how the rainbow flag became a symbol of LGBTQ pride?
Speaker B:I know I always have, so this was a lot of fun for me to research and find out.
Speaker B: Britannica, it dates back to: Speaker B:He was commissioned by Harvey Milk, who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US to create a symbol of pride for the gay community.
Speaker B:Baker decided to make that symbol a flag, because flags historically are a way to proclaim power and pride.
Speaker B:He saw the rainbow as nature's most extraordinary flag.
Speaker B:And so, adding specific meaning to each color, the rainbow became the flag for LGBTQ pride.
Speaker B:The original flag had eight colors.
Speaker B:Hot pink for sexuality, red for vitality, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, indigo for harmony, turquoise for magic or art, and violet for spirit.
Speaker B:Baker once said in an interview, our job as gay people was to come out, to be visible, to live in the truth, as I say, to get out of the lie.
Speaker B:A flag fit that mission because that's a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, this is who I am.
Speaker B:This month I will be sharing the history and meaning of a majority of the LGBTQIA flags on social media.
Speaker B:So follow me on Facebook, Instagram and or Twitter to learn more.
Speaker B:I have also partnered with two amazing women in my town who create donatable centerpieces.
Speaker B:I love their mission for doing good and creating beautiful and sustainable pieces.
Speaker B:And in honor and celebration of pride, they created the most incredible candy centerpiece for me to give away to one lucky person.
Speaker B:So check out my website, my show notes, or my social media to see pictures.
Speaker B: nd Tag me at JustBreathePride: Speaker B:Finally.
Speaker B:Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have written reviews.
Speaker B:I am so really, truly touched by each review.
Speaker B:Each message.
Speaker B:So keep the reviews coming because that helps me reach so many more people who need to know they are not alone.
Speaker B:Big hugs to all of you.
Speaker B:Allow yourself a few moments to truly appreciate the gift of pride, to embrace your child, to educate those around you, to empower all who need it, and to love.
Speaker B:Because love truly does conquer all.
Speaker A:I hope you found that enlightening.
Speaker A:A quick reminder that my brand new book, Parenting With Pride is now available in paperback, ebook and audiobook versions wherever books are sold.
Speaker A:Click on the link in the show notes to buy it right this second or to send it to a friend.
Speaker A:If Just Breathe means something to you, it would mean so much to me if you would take 30 seconds to do two things.
Speaker A:First, please follow or subscribe to the show.
Speaker A:Just click on the plus sign or the word follow wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Speaker A:And second, if you'd be willing to share a five star rating and review, I'd be so grateful.
Speaker A:It isn't just a nice thing for others to read, it actually helps this podcast get in front of those who need it most.
Speaker A:I appreciate you being part of the Just Breathe community.
Speaker A:Big hugs and happy pride to you all.
Speaker A:Until next time.
