HRC Celebrates Stonewall 50 at World Pride

by HRC Staff

HRC will be on the ground across New York City this week, celebrating the last weekend of Pride Month, World Pride and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in the Big Apple.

HRC will be on the ground across New York City this week, celebrating the last weekend of Pride Month, World Pride and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall in the Big Apple.

HRC kicked off the week with electronic billboards in Times Square, the backdrop for the closing ceremony of World Pride, urging visitors from around the globe to “show your pride” and text 472472 to support our fight for LGBTQ equality.

On Monday, Tinder set up a 30-foot “Slide for Pride” in Flatiron Plaza, a representation of the 30 U.S. states that still do not fully protect the LGBTQ community under law. With each slide, Tinder encourages participants to “slide into their senators DMs” and remind them of the importance of passing the Equality Act -- crucially important, bipartisan legislation that would provide clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

On Friday, HRC will join Rep. Jerry Nadler and advocates from the ACLU, SAGE and the New York Transgender Advocacy Group to discuss the state of LGBTQ rights and freedoms, a half century since the Stonewall riots changed the landscape of the LGBTQ rights movement in America. At the heart of this discussion is the critical need for full passage of the Equality Act in the Senate.

On Sunday, HRC will have a record presence at New York City Pride, with HRC members from across the tri-state area participating in the march and volunteers gathering to support our booth at the festival. HRC President Chad Griffin will also join hundreds New York Pride March on Sunday, joining more than four million others to mark the historic occasion.

Harassed by local police simply for congregating, Stonewall’s LGBTQ patrons -- most of whom were trans women of color -- decided to take a stand and fight back against the brutal intimidation they regularly faced at the hands of police. One year later, the first LGBTQ Pride marches were held, establishing June as Pride Month. 

As we celebrate the progress we have made in the 50 years since Stonewall, it has never been more important that we recognize the distance we still have to go to achieve full equality.