You might know about the LGBTQ+ Pride parade. It happens on the last Sunday in June every year. It's a time to celebrate with dancing and rainbows and pride flags. But do you know how the Pride parades started?
Not so long ago, it was illegal to be openly LGBTQ+. People would gather in secret to be with other people like them, but often police would raid those places and arrest people. One of those raids happened at a place called The Stonewall Inn in New York on June 28, 1969. The people there were tired of being raided. The raid that night started a series of riots. The next year, to honor the anniversary of the riots, some of the people who were there did a march called the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day. Many people call that the first Pride parade. Marches started happening at the same time each year all over the country, and eventually all over the world!
The people involved and the details of those days are very interesting and also important to know about. Read these books to learn more.
For younger readers, Stonewall is a great introduction. Published in honor of the 50th anniversary, it's the first picture book about the Stonewall Riots.
As part of the popular History Comics series, The Stonewall Riots introduces three fictional teens who are magically transported back in time to the Stonewall Inn and experience the events first-hand.
In The Stonewall Riots, author Gayle E. Pitman not only describes the riots, but also the history that led up to them and the aftermath. She includes interviews with witnesses and people who were directly involved, including one person who was 10 years old at the time.
If you want to learn more about what has happened not only in the Stonewall Riots but in the 50 years after them, read Pride. This book talks about the celebration and the struggles of the 50 years after the riots and includes voices of young people involved in LGBTQ+ activism.
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