esrosedotblog

STRAIGHT LINE

The Stonewall Riots occurred 39 years ago tomorrow.

There is a straight line between that event and our wedding on October 11, 2008.

Stonewall was not the first disruption over gay rights but it was the first action that received such an outburst of interest and sympathy from the public at large.

It was also an empowering moment for gay people everywhere. Even the ones who, like me, were hidden in their closets.

The riots precipitated the formation of the Gay Liberation Front in NYC and then spread nationwide. I belonged to the Boston chapter at one time before its demise. As always, internal conflict.

A host of other organizations sprang into being.

Over the years, we have made great strides.

We have not been quiet.

We endured the AIDS epidemic.

We fought for government support and got it.

We made great progress in human rights law.

It is a different world.

I show this picture every year because this is just the way I remember it. Those times.

I was back out in the movement in less than 6 years after Stonewall. This is what we looked like then. Well, I was a little older but still.

A moment of silence for all the comrades who we have marched with over this near forty years.

We will thank them as we say our own vows again in October.

Labels: gay history, gay marriage, gay politics, gay rights