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In den frühen Morgenstunden des 28. Juni 1969 leisteten queere Menschen, insbesondere BIPoC, trans Personen und Drag Queens Widerstand gegen eine Polizeirazzia in der Bar Stonewall Inn.
Was folgte, waren Tage des Protests, ein Aufschrei gegen Diskriminierung, Ausgrenzung und Polizeigewalt.

Ohne Stonewall gäbe es kein Pride, keine queere Sichtbarkeit, keine Bewegung wie wir sie heute kennen.

#stonewallriots #PrideHistory #lgbtqia #28juni #pridemonth #QueerResistance

The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Man

In the late 19th century, William Dorsey Swann’s private balls attracted unwelcome attention from authorities and the press

by Cari Shane, June 9, 2023

"In the late 1880s, a formerly enslaved man named William Dorsey Swann started hosting private balls known as #drags, a name possibly derived from 'grand rag,' an antiquated term for masquerade balls. Held in secret in Washington, D.C., these parties soon caught authorities’ attention.

"As the Washington Critic reported in January 1887, police officers who raided one such gathering were surprised to encounter six Black men 'dressed in elegant female attire,' including 'corsets, bustles, long hose and slippers.' The following April, the Evening Star reported on a raid that targeted men in 'female attire of many colors,' as well as 'gaudy costumes of silk and satin.' On both occasions, authorities arrested the party guests and charged them with 'being suspicious characters.'

"Journalist and historian Channing Gerard Joseph first learned about Swann’s parties in 2005, when he was a graduate student browsing an online newspaper database. The article he came across, a Washington Post story from April 1888, spotlighted Swann, 'who was arrayed in a gorgeous dress of cream-colored satin.' He 'rushed toward the officers and tried to prevent their entering.'"

Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-first-self-proclaimed-drag-queen-was-a-formerly-enslaved-man-180982311/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

#BlackHistory #DragHistory #PrideHistory #BlackDragQueens #HistoryMatters

Kay Lahusen was born in Cincinnati, Oh in 1930. She moved to Boston after graduating college and through her work at the Christian Science Monitor reference library came across the Lesbian publication, The Ladder, published by the Daughters of Bilitis. The DOB is one of the country's earlies Lesbian civil rights groups. Kay met her lifelong partner through the organization and over 46 years together they became two of the most influential activists of the early LGBTQ rights movement.

Through the 60s and 70s Kay took to her camera and photographed countless activists, protests, marches, and demonstrations. She was America's first openly gay photojournalist. In 1972 she also co-wrote one of the earliest anthologies of Gay activism: The Gay Crusaders.

As a team, Kay and her partner, Barbara, were active in the American Library Association's Gay Task Force and were instrumental in changing the outlook that homosexuality was a Psychiatric Disorder in 1973.

#PrideMonth #PrideHistory

Mia Francis Yamamoto was born at the Poston Internment Camp, AZ in 1943. Her parents being among the 127,000 American civilians of Japanese descent that we're in American concentration camps after Pearl Harbor. So, was introduced to injustice at an early age.

In 1966 she graduated from UCLA, enlisted in the US army, and served during Vietnam. After her service she enrolled in UCLA School of Law where she helped found the Asian/Pacific Islander Law Students Association.

As a lawyer Mia's awards and honors include being appointed to the Judicial Council Task Forces on Jury Improvement and Fairness & Access In the Courts, the Rainbow Key Award from the city of West Hollywood, multiple designations as Criminal Defense Attorney of the Year and recipient of the Harvey Milk Legacy Award.

In a classic case of better late than never Mia came out publicly as Transgender at the age of 60 after a near lifetime of struggling with gender identity issues.

#PrideMonth #PrideHistory #HistoryMatters