Since the Stonewall Uprising of the late 1960s, members of the LGBTQ community across the US and other countries worldwide have put themselves in the mainstream media and popular culture by participating and spearheading ideas and activities that are most iconic.
Here are five of the most iconic LGBTQ moments in modern history.
1 Stonewall Riots of 1969
image source: CNN
Members of the gay community took charge of the streets rebelliously at the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York. The uprising was known as the Stonewall Riots, which gave an upsurge to the gay and LGBTQ rights in the US in the 20th century. The five-day riot was a reaction to an oppressive raid that began in the wee hours of June 28, 1969, at an LGBTQ community bar known as the Stonewall Inn.
The Stonewall Riots of 1969 became one of the most iconic moments of the LGBTQ community, an anniversary was marked in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. There were LGBTQ pride matches across the cities.
2 Gay Pride Parades of 1970
image source: History
Following the aftermath of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, members and supporters of the LGBTQ community monumentalized the riots with marches across New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. These marches across the largest cities of the United States were known as the “gay pride” marches and they are one of the most iconic gay moments of all time. The gay pride parades became globally iconic when the gay communities of London, Paris, West Berlin, and Stockholm, participated in the parades and demonstrations.
3 Birth of the Pride Flag in 1978
image source: theguardian
The Pride Flag is a colorful symbol of the LGBTQ community. The idea of the Pride Flag was spearheaded by Harvey Milk who was a San Francisco City councilman in 1978. Milk appointed gay artist and army veteran, Gilbert Baker who designed the first-ever iconic flag for the San Francisco’s Gay Community Center in 1978.
Each of the flag’s original eight colors had a meaning: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for peace, and purple for light.
4 Black Pride Origin 1991
image source: meaww
The first gay pride parades for the blacks were organized in Washington DC in 1991 by three activists: Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, and Earnest Hopkins. The DC parades of 1991 were an 800-person gathering and is now a celebration that is participated by more than 300,000 in Washington DC each Memorial Day weekend.
Black Pride is widely regarded as the main cause of the black pride movement as a whole, inspiring the 30-plus celebrations that now take place across the country each year in cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York.
5. International Day of Transgender Visibility
image source: 19thnews
In 2009, Michigan activist Rachel Crandall put out a call to action on Facebook. Tired of the lack of occasions devoted to celebrating the lives and accomplishments of transgender and gender-nonconforming people, she proposed one of her own Transgender Day of Visibility.
The grassroots vacation fleetly gained traction on social media and was espoused across the country and abroad. Observed each time on March 31, the day honors ambisexual and gender nonconforming people while raising mindfulness of the issues that peril their lives.
