The Pride movement started in a gay bar. Fed up with harassing police raids, patrons of New York City’s Stonewall Inn used force to protect themselves and demanded to be treated with respect. The activism that resulted led to the first Pride march on the one-year anniversary of the rebellion.
The tradition has spread, and cities around the world host parades every June to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies together to celebrate and reinforce the message. Portland’s march is Saturday.
As a result of what happened last Sunday – the attack on another gay club – it will be an emotional event. A self-professed terrorist gunned down a closing-time crowd at Pulse in Orlando, Florida, killing 49 people and injuring 53. So this year’s Pride events will mark not only how much progress has been made in the last 47 years, but also how far we have to go.
To understand why the sense of violation caused by the Orlando atrocity has rippled through LGBT communities far away from Florida, it’s important to think about why gay bars exist. It was not because LGBT people wanted to exclude straight men and women from their parties. It was because LGBT people were not safe in places where straight people gathered.
There’s strength in numbers and protection from people bent on causing harm. Standing up against unjust laws, as was done at Stonewall, could not have been done by a lone individual.
At Monday’s City Hall vigil in Portland, Gia Drew, program director for EqualityMaine, said, “For many of us, clubs have always been a safe haven where we can go to hug, dance and kiss. But the news yesterday out of Orlando felt like a home invasion, like someone broke into our house and killed members of our family.”
Many of us would like to think that anti-gay prejudice is an artifact from history, but the Orlando attack and the thwarted bombing of this year’s Pride event in Los Angeles show that this is not true.
LGBT people are still in danger, even when they come together in a supportive community. LGBT people are more likely to be the target of a hate crime than any other minority. And despite gains in legal status, like the Supreme Court decision that affirmed same-sex marriage in every state, there are still millions of people who can be fired, evicted or denied service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The Stonewall Inn is reportedly soon to be designated a national monument, a symbol of how a community standing together can defeat powerful forces.
There is still a long way to march, but by assembling Saturday, the LGBT community of Maine will show the way to get there.
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