This Gay Pride Month, the hard-fought journey to equality continues

On Sunday, June 28, 1970, around noon, in New York gay activist groups held their own pride parade, known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day, to recall the events of Stonewall one year earlier. People often think that this was the tipping scale point of the LGBTQ+ community, but that is not accurate. This movement began in the later part of the ’50s and really picked up steam in the ’60s and ’70s.

In those days, it wasn’t unusual for a person to lose their job because they were gay. The homosexual community was considered a pariah by most of the population of the United States. It wasn’t uncommon for a homosexual person to be arrested for various reasons just because the arresting officer did not like something or another about the individual. Illicit activities, such as being caught performing a sexual act on another individual, carried a jail sentence. Your name was also published in the local newspaper. Due to this the person was often shunned by his/her community.

There were anti-homosexual laws in every state in the Union, with the most stringent laws originating in the South. Gay men were often placed in cells with violent criminals that hated the homosexual with the hope that they would either be raped or killed by the criminals incarcerated in that cell. You never admitted that you were a homosexual because you could be reported by anyone. You would be arrested with no questions asked.

Bayard Rustin — March 17, 1912-August 24, 1987 — was the major organizer for the community in the ’60s and ’70s. He also organized the March on Washington and other organized protests for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a very charismatic individual who was very adept in organizing protests, all peaceful.

You see, we were considered no better than the trash in the street and were treated as such.

You never knew when the other shoe would drop. Many homosexual people were disenfranchised from their families because the family was ashamed of their homosexuality.

This was not a great time in our history, yet it was a time of movement and the beginnings of our fight for acceptance. As many know, acceptance does not come easy nor does this “acceptance” happen overnight. So from 1950 until June 26th, 2015, we had not truly secured our rights of equality and acceptance. That was 55 years before we were able to get married, adopt openly and were able to file a joint tax return. There are many horror stories about a couple being together for 50 years or more, building a life together and when one of them died, the family taking everything and throwing them out on the street. It’s been a uphill battle. More to come.