Gay Pride Parade Marks 40th Anniversary Of Stonewall Riots

(AP) -- Decades after a riot at a Greenwich Village bar sparked a movement for equal rights, gay New Yorkers celebrated their gains at Sunday's gay pride parade and lamented the state has not legalized same-sex marriage.

The annual march down Fifth Avenue commemorated the Stonewall rebellion of 40 years ago, when patrons at a gay bar resisted the police. The several days of disturbances that followed the uprising became one of the defining moments of the gay rights movement.

The celebration was tempered by the knowledge that other states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa, have legalized same-sex marriage before New York.

"Hopes and dreams and expectations have been raised, and there is nothing worse than to for people to have their hopes die out, to have the rug pulled out from under them," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, New York City's most prominent openly gay elected official.

Gov. David Paterson said he remains hopeful that the state Senate will pass a same-sex marriage bill -- if it can resolve the partisan stalemate that has paralyzed it.

"If we have an end to the stalemate in Albany I would think that it would be passed shortly after," he said, referring to the state capital. "We believe we can pass the bill."

This year's march featured the usual mix of seasoned activists, dazzling drag performers and floats blasting disco beats.

A faux Liza Minnelli in a slinky dress and spiky wig lip-synched "New York, New York" atop the Stonewall Inn float.

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The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center's float was sponsored by the Broadway musical "Shrek," whose ogres-need-love-too message was apparently a good fit.

Flavia Rando marched with the Gay Liberation Front, which began in 1969 after the Stonewall uprising.

"It feels like we changed the world," Rando said. "We started a global movement."

In addition to Paterson, one of the parade's grand marshals, elected officials marching included Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer.

Parade organizers claimed as many as 500,000 participants. That number was difficult to verify, but many thousands marched or lined Fifth Avenue to watch.

Spectator Mark Jester of Maryland, visiting New York for the first time, said the parade was "awesome," especially the drag queens.

"I have a lot of respect, because if I would do that at home I literally would have to fight," he said.

Danielle Staub of the Bravo reality show "The Real Housewives Of New Jersey" marched in heels that rivaled a drag queen's and said gay people deserve the right to marry.

"My two marriages didn't last as long as most of the gay community's partnerships," she noted.

As part of the yearlong celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Dutch encounter with New York, Amsterdam officials held a contest for couples to marry in that city, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2001.

The winners, five couples with one Dutch partner and one American partner, will travel to Amsterdam for its August gay pride celebration and get married there.

"We kept saying we were going to do it here once it was legal in New York state," said contest winner Stephan Hengst, who was born in the Netherlands and now lives in Highland, New York, with his partner Patrick Decker. "We hope to see it become legal in New York very soon."

Comments

[MSNichols]

And in Texas, they raided a gay bar and the police put one man in the hospital with brain damage.

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/06/gays-in-texas-arrested-for-public-intoxication-in-stonewallstyle-raid.html

One step forward and they beat you down.

[dragonmaster]

Its been 40 years since Stonewall-wow- I was a young teen then. Now as a mature gay man-sadly, however even here in Liberal CT-many of us still feel and are treated like second class citizens- by a still ignorant society and bigoted family members.

[PoliticalRockChick]

My friends are querr, I'm glad they're here. Get use to it. I enjoyed the Pride Parade today in NY.

[PoliticalRockChick]

My friends are queer, I'm glad they're here. So get used to it. Pride Sunday in NY was amazing.

[Nyah Molineaux]

I walked in that parade, and Lord the march was long. But it gave me a kickstart to my workout and it was a privilege to march in the parade.

[LMPE]

My proposal:

Kidnap the world's homophobes (such as Carrie Prejean and the entire government of Saudi Arabia) and force them to watch this.

[wadingo]

This is the first time I am in NYC during the summer and I was working during the parade. Wish I got to go see it.

[mjwilstein]

Here's a good video of CNN's gay pride/Stonewall coverage from today:
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/06/gay-pride-parade-coverage-from-cnn.html

[3rdCitizen]

Whether it was coincidental, ironic, or just in bad taste, this same week as the gay pride march & the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a breakaway faction of the Episcopal church was established based on its rejection of gay rights and the ordination of women. (It also decided to return to the 1660 version of the Book of Common Prayer -- how apt.)
As a Christian, I'm not concerned over the pompous & puerile attacks of Christopher Hitchens or Bill Maher, or the intellectually dishonest & easily refutable arguments of Richard Dawkins. But the bigoted & reactionary behavior of groups such as these disturbs me deeply. They grossly distort the faith I'm involved with & defame it more than any atheist critic ever could.
Here's to defeating every form of bigotry. Here's to tolerance & respecting the diversity of the human condition. Hopefully, that's something we can all agree on.

[Joseph Buchanan]

While I consider myself agnostic, I am proud to have been raised in the *liberal* Episcopalian church. My experience in our accepting church was that it taught peace through love and forgiveness - supposedly the central tennets of Christianity.
Unfortunately their were splits among even our parishoners against the female priest, but i was raised in a chuch of LOVE.

[melpol]

It is the keepers of the faith that are clamping down on free style living. They expect the individual to live a saintly life. But who is watching the watchman? It would be better if every bible thumper minded their own business. Iran is an example of what happens when religious zealots run other peoples lives.

[TJCole]

They run other people's lives because they are incapable of running their own, or keeping an eye on their husbands of course..

Best Wishes to all of you, let's hope someday we'll elect a president who is a disciple of Dr. King's and chooses not to discriminate, and make it government policy to do so, as we have now...!

[Paulo1]

Forty years ago I was 13 and felt doomed because I was a gay youth. I remember reading about Stonewall and realizing that I was not a victim and could stand up for myself when needed.

My sincere thanks to those with enough nerve to pick up those bricks. You probably saved this mans life with that act of defiance.

[kkuchenb]

Not to be a nitpicker, but....

the parade moved down, not up, 5th Ave.

[3rdCitizen]

As one New Yorker to another, thank you for pointing that out.

[wonketteRAWKS]

Last night, on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in NYC, state police reportedly entered the city's Rainbow Lounge gay bar and began arresting people with unnecessary force for public intoxication. Multiple first-hand accounts suggest that the arrests were random and unwarranted.

http://www.towleroad.com/2009/06/gays-in-texas-arrested-for-public-intoxication-in-stonewallstyle-raid.html

[Jeffisok]

I'm not surprised about this. This is what you get in a place like Texas. It's the worst place in the entire country, possibly the world to live. I lived there for 8 months last year. The day I left that state was without a doubt the happiest day of my life. I was so relieved to get out of there. It's an absolutely horrible place to live. Even worse if your gay. I hope they stand up and fight but tend to think they won't. Stay out of Texas if you know what's good for you and for those who live there, get out if you can.

[KurtzL]

Yes, Stonewall was one of the defining moments of the gay rights movement; what will the defining moment of Obama's administration be?

[RonNYC]

trips to the theatre in nyc or a hawaiian style cookout.

[SneathLane]

Stonewall was only one of many defining moments of the gay rights movement. The Mattachine Society and other groups hand been active before Stonewall, and had achieved some great legal victories and some lifting of official oppression in NYC.

We remember Stonewall now because gay activists in several cities over the winter of 1969/70 thought it would be good to have coordinated marches in support of gay liberation.

Of the milestones that were discussed as dates to celebrate with the new marches, Stonewall won out because it happened in the summer, a week before Independence Day. A good time to work for our own independence, our own freedom.

Stonewall became significant because of what the marches meant to men and women all over the U.S., and then all over the world. For many years they were the engine that powered the movement for freedom for Gay men and Lesbians.