2022
In June, events are held around the world to honor the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. Annual Pride Month celebrations recognize the impact LGBTQ+ people have had on our world and reaffirm the importance of protesting discrimination.
This Pride Month, we’re sharing a few sites that commemorate the history of LGBTQ+ people and the struggles they’ve faced in the fight toward equal rights.
1. Stonewall Inn in New York City
The Stonewall Inn is the site of a police raid that sparked a protest that is widely considered the beginning of the gay rights movement in the United States. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, to enforce anti-gay laws. Unlike previous raids, the crowd didn’t disperse. They fought back. The raid led to six days of demonstrations that included thousands of people outside the bar and in neighboring areas. Those protests inspired LGBTQ+ people all over the country to organize and form gay rights groups. In fact, June was selected as Pride Month because of the Stonewall protests.
Today, Stonewall Inn is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public. The interior of the bar has changed quite a bit since those crucial protests, but you can still find photos of the historic moment on the walls.
2. Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, England
In 1952, Turing was charged with gross indecency after admitting to police that he had a sexual relationship with another man. He was placed on probation and agreed to hormone treatment. As a result, Turing’s security clearance was revoked and he could no longer continue his intelligence work. Two years later, Turing committed suicide. He has since become a martyred hero of the LGBTQ+ community.
To commemorate his life, the Alan Turing Memorial features a life-sized bronze figure of him sitting on a bench in Manchester’s Sackville Park. Next to it is a plaque that describes Turing's achievements and reminds all who read it that he was a victim of prejudice.
3. Oscar Wilde Statue in Dublin, Ireland
Oscar Wilde is another important figure to the LGBTQ+ community. Wilde, a world-renowned writer, was convicted of gross indecency in 1895 after being outed as a gay man. He was sentenced to two years in prison. When he was released, both his health and his reputation had been damaged.
Like the Alan Turing memorial, an Oscar Wilde monument serves as a reminder of intolerance and offers hope to future generations. The three-part sculpture in Dublin’s Merrion Square includes references from his life, including a life-sized statue of Wilde laying across a boulder. He is carved in a variety of semi-precious stones sourced from around the world including white jade from Guatemala, black granite from India, and green nephrite jade from Northern Canada.
4. Homomonument in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The three triangles are all strategically placed and point to the Anne Frank House, the National War Memorial, and the headquarters of the COC Nederland, the oldest continuously operating gay rights organization in the world. This is the first monument ever made for the LGBTQ+ community and has inspired similar monuments in other cities around the world.
5. Castro Camera in San Francisco
Sadly, less than a year after he took office, Milk was assassinated in 1978. Castro Camera was transformed into an art gallery and, in 2011, into the Human Right Campaign Store, the largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality in the U.S.
Those who visit the original site of Castro Camera today and look up will see a painting of Harvey Milk and his motto, "You gotta give ‘em hope!"
I saw few building near SF mission street as like given you i think that area for LGBT people . i forget street name
@AriMar wrote:
In June, events are held around the world to honor the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. Annual Pride Month celebrations recognize the impact LGBTQ+ people have had on our world and reaffirm the importance of protesting discrimination.
This Pride Month, we’re sharing a few sites that commemorate the history of LGBTQ+ people and the struggles they’ve faced in the fight toward equal rights.
1. Stonewall Inn in New York City
The Stonewall Inn is the site of a police raid that sparked a protest that is widely considered the beginning of the gay rights movement in the United States. In the early hours of June 28, 1969, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, to enforce anti-gay laws. Unlike previous raids, the crowd didn’t disperse. They fought back. The raid led to six days of demonstrations that included thousands of people outside the bar and in neighboring areas. Those protests inspired LGBTQ+ people all over the country to organize and form gay rights groups. In fact, June was selected as Pride Month because of the Stonewall protests.
Today, Stonewall Inn is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public. The interior of the bar has changed quite a bit since those crucial protests, but you can still find photos of the historic moment on the walls.
2. Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, England
In 1952, Turing was charged with gross indecency after admitting to police that he had a sexual relationship with another man. He was placed on probation and agreed to hormone treatment. As a result, Turing’s security clearance was revoked and he could no longer continue his intelligence work. Two years later, Turing committed suicide. He has since become a martyred hero of the LGBTQ+ community.
To commemorate his life, the Alan Turing Memorial features a life-sized bronze figure of him sitting on a bench in Manchester’s Sackville Park. Next to it is a plaque that describes Turing's achievements and reminds all who read it that he was a victim of prejudice.
3. Oscar Wilde Statue in Dublin, Ireland
Oscar Wilde is another important figure to the LGBTQ+ community. Wilde, a world-renowned writer, was convicted of gross indecency in 1895 after being outed as a gay man. He was sentenced to two years in prison. When he was released, both his health and his reputation had been damaged.
Like the Alan Turing memorial, an Oscar Wilde monument serves as a reminder of intolerance and offers hope to future generations. The three-part sculpture in Dublin’s Merrion Square includes references from his life, including a life-sized statue of Wilde laying across a boulder. He is carved in a variety of semi-precious stones sourced from around the world including white jade from Guatemala, black granite from India, and green nephrite jade from Northern Canada.
4. Homomonument in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The three triangles are all strategically placed and point to the Anne Frank House, the National War Memorial, and the headquarters of the COC Nederland, the oldest continuously operating gay rights organization in the world. This is the first monument ever made for the LGBTQ+ community and has inspired similar monuments in other cities around the world.
5. Castro Camera in San Francisco
Sadly, less than a year after he took office, Milk was assassinated in 1978. Castro Camera was transformed into an art gallery and, in 2011, into the Human Right Campaign Store, the largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality in the U.S.
Those who visit the original site of Castro Camera today and look up will see a painting of Harvey Milk and his motto, "You gotta give ‘em hope!"
👍👍👍👍👍
🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈
Ari - Thank you for sharing this important information.
