Plan Your Week • May 6, 2022

Pride month, an annual event to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its history.Events are set to take place across the world to mark the occasion, encouraging new generations of LGBTQ+ youth and allies to learn more about the history of the movement, and the pioneers who helped push the fight for equal fights forward, most notably the radical Stonewall uprising which changed a lot.It has been 53 years since the uprising – but just what were the Stonewall riots and how important were they to the gay rights movement?On June 28, 1969, after years of unjust treatment, members of the LGBTQ+ (then more commonly referred to just as the LGBT community) fought back at the persecution of the police.It was expected that gay bars would be raided, with the police given the authority to arrest those committing homosexual acts, or demand that people observe a ‘three-piece law.’This law allowed them to arrest people – usually drag queens and kings, trans women and trans men – who were wearing more than three articles of clothing not ascribed to their gender assigned at birth.On this night, June 28, at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, the police raided the bar as had become normal. However, this time was different.An uprising took place, which was followed by three nights of protests and civil unrest as LGBT people, long frustrated by police brutality, finally joined in fighting back.Lesbians and trans women of colour were some of the key people involved in the first act of defiance and resistance, including Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera, and Marsha P.