The month of pride has begun, the opportunity to look back on the events of Stonewall, at the origin of the international gay liberation movement and, by extension, LGBTQ+.
It all started in the late 1960s Greenwich village, At New York. People seen as homosexual suffer repressive laws : they cannot be served in bars, dance together, access certain jobs and are considered mentally ill.
At this time, the New York mafia is still influential and circumvents the law for its profits. Bars where gay people can go and live freely then appear, and although the police often raid and arrest them, bribes are enough to make life there. almost normal for those affected. One bar in particular, the Stonewall Inn, is targeted by law enforcement. This bar is run down. for example, there is no running water to wash glasses, but some have found their habits there.
The turning point of the year 1969
1969 is an election year in New York. The mayor in place, John Lindsay is a member of the Republican party, in office since 1966 and wants to be re-elected. His fight against “delinquency”, he will lead to more and more police interventions, especially at the Stonewall Inn. But on the night of June 27-28, 1969, those present in the bar resisted the police, causing altercations and eventually a riot that resulted in injuries on both sides. This riot will last six nights, during which New York’s LGBTQ+ community gathered to confront law enforcement outside the Stonewall Inn.
A year later, on June 27, 1970, demonstrators gathered in memory of this event. They have with them placards on which they proudly display their sexual and gender identity. This event will be the first Gay Pride (Pride march). This demonstration is then only the first stone in the building of homosexual liberation. She represented at the time a model for international liberation. From the following year, around the end of June, similar demonstrations were organized in other countries. In France, the first pride march took place on June 25, 1977 in Paris.
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