Pride at Puppet: Stonewall birthed a revolution

by Trevor Jenkins, Director of DEI, Puppet by Perforce

A brief, recent, global history of Pride

Happy Pride Month here in the U.S.! The spirit of Stonewall is still alive and well today on June 28th, the 53rd anniversary of the uprising.

Pride month is celebrated every year in June in respect to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. Stonewall started as protest, and was a tipping point for the gay liberation movement in the United States. There had been other major milestones that were a part of the growing movement — for example, the Black Cat protests in Los Angeles — that pre-dated Stonewall, but Stonewall serves as a turning point nationally.

I believe that to be an ally, one must educate themselves on the experiences of a marginalized group of people in order to empathize with their challenges and build relationships with that group of people. With that intention in mind, let’s take a look back at recent events in the global LGBTQIA+ community in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, and Australia, where Puppet offices are based.

In the U.S.

Raiding gay bars

The 1960s and previous decades were not inclusive times for many people, including the LGBTQ community. Many Americans began to protest against discrimination toward certain identities. Discrimination is defined as the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, religion, sex and sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage and public relationships were illegal and many LGBTQ people were arrested, ostracized, and blacklisted. For this reason, LGBTQ people looked to gay bars and clubs as spots of asylum where they could be open and associate without fear and disapproval.

Three-article rule

Have you ever heard of the three-article rule? It may be hard to believe now, but between the 1940–1960s, many LGBTQ people were arrested simply because the clothes they were wearing didn’t align with gender norms of the era. People were required to wear three “sexual orientation suitable” pieces of clothing to stay away from being arrested for cross-dressing.

New era of resistance and revolution

Stonewall ushered in a new era of resistance. These protests and riots were a series of demonstrations held by the LGBTQ community in light of a police attack on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. What followed next was a revolution for equal rights for LGBTQ people.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, making it legal in each of the fifty states for the first time ever.

Australia

Marriage equality in Australia

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Australia since December 9, 2017.

Ireland

Dublin’s first Pride march, 1982

Like the Stonewall Riots, the first Pride march in Ireland’s capital also had its beginnings in an act of discrimination. The march was held after an awful assault in Fairview Park in 1982, in which a gay man, Declan Flynn, was murdered by a group of four people. The Pride march served as a powerful act of resistance and visibility in the wake of violence.

Ireland amends marriage equality

On Friday, May 22, 2015, The Constitution of Ireland permitted marriage to be bound by two persons without distinction as to their sex, making same-sex marriage legal.

United Kingdom

Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a devolved legislative matter (which means each of the countries that are part of the UK can rule differently on this matter), different parts of the UK legalized at different times; it has been recognized and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020.

The work is not over

There is still much work to be done. In the last couple of years, activists and progressive politicians introduced a bill that would modify existing civil rights legislation to ban discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit.

New state legislation in the U.S. continues to put transgender individuals and their families at risk, while the U.S. Supreme Court considers reversing legislation based on the right to privacy, which could threaten the legality of same-sex marriage. While we have come a long way, the LGBTQIA+ community and allies must continue to fight for equality, safety, visibility, and acceptance.