The History of Pride

LGBT history is not so much talked about. Our history is a part of American history and yet it is often left in the dark. There is this town that is about an hour and a half away from where I live. Watertown SD is the name of the town. They are having their first pride event. I went to high school in this town, and it wasn't the most LGBT friendly small town. It's nice to see that almost 50 years after Stonewall, that they are having a Pride in the Park event. Their event is not going to be as big as Sioux Falls Pride, but it is still progress. While reading the add for Watertown's pride event, I saw something that completely set me back. Somewhere in that article stated that it was 50 years since the first parade. First of all Watertown, Stonewall was not a parade. It was a riot. One day after being put down their entire lives, a group of LGBT people said enough was enough. Martha P Johnson and sometimes Syliva Revara are credited for throwing the first brick at Stonewall. Really no one is sure who it was, but they credit it to a butch lesbian. The Stonewall Riots was where everything started to turn. Throughout the 1960s in America, police would raid bars to catch and arrest people for being LGBT. June 29th, 1970 was when the first parades happened. They happened because at the time we needed them. It was an event where a group of disenfranchised people could be themselves in public for the day. This is only a sliver of LGBT history, but it should be told right. If you live in Watertown SD, or just planning to go to the event. Remember 50 years ago, was the Stonewall Riots, not the celebration of the first pride.