Science Journalism: Stonewall Inn

When did the LGBT movement start? An equally important question could be where. The Stonewall Inn is generally recognized as the start of the modern LGBT movement. LGBT people of the time faced both social and legal discrimination and were often dispersed when they would try to gather. In the queer community today the ability to come together as a community and to feel safe and included in a space is so important, even when it is a digital space. Feeling confident that component of your identity will be welcomed and you can at least momentarily escape the gaze (Fanon) which can feel so othering and harmful is an incredible liberation. Today such spaces still offer incredible respite to so many. The annual event Pride, which also typically takes place in June, was a result of Stonewall. I will be looking at the history of the LGBT movement to explore the idea of what pride means and how it serves in the queer community today as well as what queer space looks like and who belongs in it. Queer spaces have changed and multiplied since the 1960s as well as the people who occupy those spaces. Now who is seen as belonging in those spaces and why? The idea that events, physical places, and certain celebrations belong to the group as a form of heritage seems to be an emerging conflict. In order to look into the history and investigate the heritage and try to understand inclusion in the culture it is also important to look at how the countries laws and attitude has shifted.