Join MPC at the Monterey Campus for a special LGBTQ+ flag-raising ceremony, followed by a fun Kahoot game and delicious treats at EL CENTRO! Don't miss out on this exciting event!

The History of Pride

By Meg Metcalf, Women's, Gender, & LGBTQ+ Studies Librarian, Researcher and Reference Services Division, Library of Congress.  

https://www.loc.gov/ghe/cascade/index.html?appid=90dcc35abb714a24914c68c9654adb67

On June 28, 1970, on the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Thousands of LGBT+ people gathered to commemorate Stonewall and demonstrate for equal rights. The events of Stonewall and the liberation movements that followed were a direct result of prior decades of LGBT+ activism and organizing. In particular, Pride traditions were adapted from the "Reminder Day Pickets" held annually (1965-1969) on July 4 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

The Annual Reminder Day Pickets were organized by the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (E.R.C.H.O).  E.R.C.H.O. (initially called E.C.H.O.) was formed in 1962 as an organization of east coast homophile groups which included the New York Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the Janus Society in Philadelphia, and the Mattachine Society of Washington and New York, and would grow to include others. Watch the 1968 Reminder Day Picket.

In this footage from the 1968 picket, you can see homophile activists Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, and representatives from the various homophile groups belonging to E.R.C.H.O. Activists Lilli Vincenz and Paul Kuntzler also participated in the Reminder Day Pickets.