LGBT pride

LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity. The movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered. The use of the abbreviated gay pride and pride have since become mainstream and shorthand expressions inclusive of all individuals in various LGBT communities.

The word pride is used in this case an antonym for shame, which has been used to control and oppress LGBT persons throughout history. Pride in this sense is an affirmation of ones self and the community as a whole. The modern "pride" movement began after the "Stonewall riots" of the late 1960s. Instead of backing down to unconstitutional raids by New York Police, gay men in local bars fought back. While it was a violent situation it also gave the underground community the first sense of communal pride in a very well publicized incident. From the yearly parade that commemorated the anniversary of the Stonewall riots began a national grassroots movement. Today many countries around the world celebrate LGBT pride. The pride movement has furthered the cause of gay rights by lobbying politicians, registering voters and increasing vivibility to educate on issues important to LGBT communities. LGBT pride advocates work for equal "rights and benefits" for LGBT people.

Symbols of LGBT pride include the LGBT rainbow flag, butterfly, the Greek lambda symbol, and the pink as well as black triangles reclaimed from their past use.

History

See also: Timeline of LGBT history, Homosexuality in ancient Greece, and Homosexuality in ancient Rome

Young man and teenager engaging in intercrural sex, fragment of a black-figure Attic cup, 550 BCE–525 BCE, Louvre

Advocates of gay pride have used history to point to oppression as well as differing levels of acceptance of homosexuality throughout history. The ancient Greeks did not conceive of sexual orientation as a social identifier, as Western societies have done for the past century. Greek society did not distinguish sexual desire or behavior by the gender of the participants, but by the extent to which such desire or behavior conformed to social norms. These norms were based on gender, age and social status. "Lesbian" derives from the name of the island of Lesbos, which was famous for the poet Sappho, who wrote love poetry to female lovers. Homosexuality in the ancient Roman Empire is considered to have been widespread but was tempered by the complex social systems of the society.

During Medieval times all forms of sexuality began to be repressed by the church as the idea of heaven and hell gained popularity. As technology fell behind simple luxuries such as clean running water and proper sewage became a thing of the past. This caused horrible conditions and disease. People began to believe that they were suffering from the wrath of God, blaming immorality. Any and all forms of homosexuality became not only shameful but punishable by death. In 390, the first law banning same-sex love was enacted in Rome, making it punishable by death.

19th century movement in Germany

At the turn of the century in Germany there was an early gay rights movement akin to today's Gay Pride movement. Lead by Magnus Hirschfeld, this movement sought to educate the public and to bring about the repeal of Paragraph 175, a provision of the German Criminal Code begun on the 15th May, 1871, which made homosexual acts between males a crime.

Notable figures in contemporary history

English writer, model, actor and raconteur Quentin Crisp, performing his "One Man Show" in Birmingham (circa 1982) is known for his witticisms and longstanding refusal to remain closeted.

Part of the gay pride movement honors past LGBT figures who prospered despite persecution for their openness and coming out of various perceived closets. There have been notable figures that have fought for or involved themselves in gay rights, or their right to live their lives as they saw fit. Oscar Wilde is amongst the more famous for his writings as well for his imprisonment for the "love that dare not speak its name". Quentin Crisp also battled societal norms to live and love without the fear of arrest. Author of The Naked Civil Servant he has become an icon and camp figure within LGBT communities and symbol of gay pride for many.

The Holocaust

During World War II as Nazi Germany began its domination of Europe many people found themselves being rounded up and sent to concentration camps. The Holocaust was undertaken with homosexuals as one of the groups targeted with gay men being marked with a pink triangle badge while lesbians were designated with a black triangle for "antisocial behavior".

Post-Stonewall (Modern gay rights movement)

Stonewall riots

Main article: Stonewall riots

This photograph appeared in the front page of The New York Daily News on Sunday, June 29, 1969, showing the "street kids" who were the first to fight with the police in the Stonewall riots.

In June 1969, a group of LGBT people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar at 43 Christopher Street, New York City. Sylvia Rivera, a transgender rights activist and founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance, is credited by many as the first to actually strike back at the police and, in so doing, spark the rebellion. Further protests and rioting continued for several nights following the raid. The riots are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays and lesbians fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted homosexuals, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

1970s

Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activists Alliance in the early post-Stonewall era, coordinated the first anniversary rally and then the "Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March" (Archival footage of March) on June 28, 1970 to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. First anniversary marches organized by other groups were also held in San Francisco and Los Angeles in 1970. Brenda Howard also originated the idea for a week-long series of events around what is now known as Pride Day; this became the first of the extended annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world. In New York and Atlanta the annual day of celebration to commemorate the Stonewall Riot came to be called Gay Liberation Day; in San Francisco and Los Angeles it was called Gay Freedom Day. Both names spread as more and more cities and towns started holding similar celebrations. COME GET MY LOVIN' GAY BOY.

1980s to present

Front line of PASTT at Gay Pride at Paris in France, June 2005

In the 1980s there was a major cultural shift in the Stonewall Riot commemorations. The previous loosely organized, grassroots marches and parades were taken over by more organized and less radical elements of the gay community. The marches began dropping "Liberation" and "Freedom" from their names under pressure from more conservative members of the community, replacing them with the philosophy of "Gay Pride" (in the more liberal San Francisco, the name of the gay parade and celebration was not changed from Gay Freedom Day Parade to Gay Pride Day Parade until 1994). The Greek lambda symbol and the pink triangle which had been revolutionary symbols of the Gay Liberation Movement, which is headed by were tidied up and incorporated into the Gay Pride, or Pride, movement, providing some symbolic continuity with its more radical beginnings. The pink triangle was also the inspiration for the homomunument in Amsterdam, commemorating all gay men and lesbians who have been subjected to persecution because of their homosexuality.

In 2008 the Queen of Spain, Sofia de Grecia made public her opposition to Gay Pride and to the law on same sex marriage approved by Spanish Parliament.

See also

• Bear community
• Brenda Howard
• Christopher Street Day
• Europride
• Gay and Lesbian Pride Month
• Gay shame

• InterPride / IALGPC
• LGBT pride parade
• List of LGBT events
• Pride Library
• Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures

External links

• Gay Pride UK The Definitive Guide to UK LGBT Pride
• Brighton Pride 2008 photos
• List of worldwide Gay Pride events Event info and photos