Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Pride Parade – Virtually

During pride month, we celebrate equality for and in the LGBTQ community. The right to be and love who we are! As we all know, this has not always been a given. The fight for equal rights for people within the LGBTQ community accelerated 51 years ago at the infamous Stonewall bar in Manhattan, New York.

The Beginning

It was illegal for people in the LGBTQ community to openly display love or dress in clothes that were culturally designated for another gender in the United States in 1969. In fact, you could be arrested for even serving drinks to people from the LGBTQ community.

However, Stonewall Inn, a club in Manhattan, New York, became one of the only public places in which members of the LGBTQ community could openly gather. This club could exist because they paid off the police of the 6th district to turn a blind eye, and they did not pursue a liquor license so they were not considered a bar. The community at Stonewall Inn grew, and people celebrated being in an environment that allowed them to be true to themselves.

This went on until the night of June 28, 1969 when police raided bars all over New York with warrants to arrest people for not following the regulations. The police were particularly cruel during their arrests, especially at Stonewall Inn. The patrons fought back, and as the night went on – thousands of people from all over New York came and joined the fight. Protests and demonstrations continued for the next week. A year later, the city assembled in remembrance and to continue the fight for equality – the fight to be seen and validated for who you are and who you love.

The history of the uprising at Stonewall Inn is marked as a major and important event in the LGBTQ rights movement and continues to be commemorated across the world every year.

The history of the uprising at Stonewall Inn is marked as a major and important event in the LGBTQ rights movement.

50 Years

This year marks the 50th celebration of pride parades in cities all over the world, which is usually a large weeklong festival sometime in June with thousands of people attending the events. Due to COVID, organizers are forced to be innovative and create virtual pride celebrations instead. And there are so many!

On June 27, there will be a global virtual pride celebration held for the first time in history, including a 24 hour live-streamed event which will hold virtual parades, inspiring speaker sessions, and workshops to create a feeling of inclusion and acceptance.

Finally, this year, Pride organizers are focusing specifically on awareness and raising money for members of the LGBTQ community who are Black or Indigenous in remembrance of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as honoring and remembering the countless Trans Black lives that have been lost, such as Riah Milton, Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, and many more.

Here are a handful of the Virtual Pride offerings:

• Global Pride 2020
• Pride 2020 drag fest
• Beyond the Shelter
• The LGBTQIA+ Experience in Tech Panel Discussion

Consider joining one of the above virtual Pride parade celebrations, donating your time and/or money to the Pride movement, and learning more about how you can help advance equal rights for the LGBTQ community around the world.