Happy Gay Pride!!
June is Gay Pride Month in America
Obama has officially claimed June as Gay Pride Month!! Something we’ve already been celebrating now for ages. But to get the official recognition from the top is another wonderful addition on our path to equality . Gay Pride month is a time for all of us to take a stand against discrimination, to continue our fight for equality, and to celebrate and support the lives of our gay brothers and sisters. Although Obama has proclaimed that June is officially the LGBT Pride month, June was originally chosen as Gay Pride month in honor of the Stonewall Riots which occurred in 1969. In the early morning of June 28th 1969 members of the gay community in Greenwich Village NY took a stand against the police force who often raided bars where gays gathered. At that moment the community stood together for the first time and said they would take this no more! We’ve made so many strides since that day. I still remember going to gay bars in the early 90’s before Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, DADT. One of the bars was in a military town. Service members would have to duck into a secret room in order to escape the military raids. Yes, gay bars were once raided by the military to entrap service members and have them dishonorably discharged because they were homosexual. These raids were executed to ruin the lives of these honorable people for the simple fact that they loved differently. Those were scary times when you could be arrested for just being gay. We’ve come a long way since then. DADT has been repealed and now service members can live their lives openly. We now have 12 states that recognize gay marriage, and more in line for marriage equality. It’s a beautiful thought that one day being gay won’t be such a vexing issue. As gay men and women we live our lives as any normal person would. Now seeing that other people recognize the normality of our lives gives me renewed hope and restores my faith in our country and it’s direction. So whether you’re gay, straight, or “Inbetween”, show your pride this month. Attend your local pride parade, volunteer your time, get involved, show your community and the world that gay is ok!
Peace,
Butch