Long_term

The first Christopher Street Parade in 1970 June 28, picture by the National Geographic.

The LGBTQIA+ community decided a year later on the exact day when the Stonewall riots happened, to do a Christopher parade, The key leaders are Sylvia Riveria and Marsha P. Johnson, two trans women. They marched down the streets starting with hundreds and ending with thousands at a park, allowing leaders to give speeches in front of the crowd. One of the speeches was from Sylvia Riveria, her speech was about what happened at Stonewall and standing up for trans people. The crowd booed her as she began her speech. In 1999 Bill Clinton declared June Pride Month a turning point after the Stonewall Riots, which was huge. In 2008 being gay was not seen as a mental illness. On June 26, 2015, gay marriage was legal in all states a major victory. It took 50 years for the police to apologize for their actions during the Stonewall Riots.

"Y’all better quiet down. I’ve been trying to get up here all day for your gay brothers and gay sisters in jail that write me every mother fucking week, and you all don’t do a god damn thing for them! I have been beaten! I had my nose broken! I have been thrown in jail! I lost my job! I lost my apartment for gay liberation, and you all treat me this way?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! The people are trying to do something for all of us, and not men and women. That belongs to a white middle-class white club! And that’s what you all belong to! Revolution now!!."
~ Sylvia Riveria

Each year they have a pride parade that goes through Christopher and passes The Stonewall Inn. This led the way for how the LGBTQ+ community fights back today. The riots led the way for the fight for rights and equality.

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law."
~ Barack Obama said on January 1 2013 in his inaugural address.

Marsha P. Johnson( on the left) and Sylvia Rivera( on the right)