Stonewall was a galvanizing event in the quest for Gay rights. Protests and conflicts with police lasted several days, and have come to be called the Stonewall riots. On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York, to arrest LGBT patrons. The tradition of Gay Pride parades grew out of a conflict between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) New Yorkers and police. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, homosexual behavior, cross-dressing, and other expressions of gender nonconformity were treated as crimes in most parts of the United States. It is unusual for folklorists to be able to say exactly when and where a tradition began, but this is a rare case when history does record the events.
Today Gay Pride parades occur on weekends in June throughout the United States, as well as in many other countries around the world.
Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. A clown wearing the colors of the rainbow flag in the 2012 Gay Pride Parade, San Francisco, California.
