The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) says: "Gay pride events, including gay pride parades and festivals were started in major urban centers to improve the visibility, acceptance and legal protections for LGBTQ+ people living in those communities. The inaugural pride march involved about 3,000 to 5,000 gatherers, while today the number has grown to the millions.
The first Pride march in New York City took place in 1970 on the anniversary year of the Stonewall Uprising and marked the first U.S. "Historians have noted that the shift in activism, if Stonewall truly represented one at all, was a shift primarily for white cisgender people, as people of color and gender non-confroming people never truly had the benefit of concealing their marginalized identities," the website adds. "It was not the first time police raided a gay bar, and it was not the first time LGBTQ+ people fought back, but the events that would unfold over the next six days would fundamentally change the discourse surrounding LGBTQ+ activism in the United States," the Library of Congress website explains. Students Say Teacher Scrawled 'Heteros Rule' Over Their Pro-LGBTQ Chalk Art.Gay Police Group Blasts NYC Pride Parade Organizers Banning Them.Indiana School Board Orders LGBT Pride Flags Out of High School Classrooms.
Stonewall Inn had been raided frequently ahead of the uprising, but the June 28 raid led to a series of demonstrations that lasted six days. at the time and members of the LGBTQ community began to fight back amid growing activism in the 1960s. Police raids and harassment occurred frequently across the U.S.
Homosexuality at the time was considered a criminal offense throughout New York State, with many gay bars were owned by the mafia and operated without a liquor license, according to the Library of Congress. The Stonewall Uprising began on June 28 in 1969 after police that day raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan. The celebrations commemorate the Stonewall Uprising in New York City, which was a critical turning point for the gay liberation movement in the country. The month sees a series of marches, parades and other events held to recognize and celebrate the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary and queer) community. Pride month usually takes place in June in the U.S.