Millions around the world took part in parades and marches in honor of National LGBTQ Pride Month, but these celebrations may not have been possible if not for a group of LGBTQactivists who 48 years ago stood up in a local New York bar and fought back against hate.
On June 28, 1969, when New York City police began again harassing LGBTQ patrons of the Stonewall Inn simply for congregating, those patrons decided they’d had enough. They began bravely fighting back against the consistent oppression and brutal intimidation they faced. From those early demonstrations grew a modern social movement determined to rid the nation of discrimination against all LGBTQ Americans.
Exactly one year later, the first Pride marches took place in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to commemorate the anniversary of the historic stand against injustice at Stonewall.
The significance of the events at Stonewall, and their influence in shaping the national conversation surrounding LGBTQ equality in America, cannot be overstated. Last summer, then-President Obama acknowledged the historic contributions of the events of 1969 by designating the Stonewall Inn as the country’s first LGBTQ national monument, a place essential to telling the story of the LGBTQ community’s struggle for equality.
“We can’t rest, we gotta keep pushing for equality and acceptance and tolerance, but the arc of our history is clear,” said Obama.
“It’s an arc of progress and a lot of that progress can be traced back to Stonewall.”
The LGBTQ community hailed Obama’s announcement, which recognized what many consider the birthplace of the LGBTQ movement, providing a public acknowledgement of Stonewall’s much-deserved place in history.
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Though Stonewall’s legacy is cemented in history, LGBTQ progress remains on shaky ground in the Drumpf Era
HRC takes inspiration from the brave members of our community who stood up for themselves – and all of us – at Stonewall, and remains committed to ensuring all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, are treated equality and with dignity under the law.
“I’m designating the Stonewall National Monument as the newest addition to America’s national parks system.
Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of the struggle for LGBT rights. I believe our national parks should reflect the full story of our country – the richness and diversity and uniquely American spirit that has always defined us. That we are stronger together. That out of many, we are one.”
~President Barack Obama~
On June 24, 2016 President Obama designated the site of the Stonewall uprising and birthplace of the modern LGBT civil rights movement the “Stonewall National Monument.”
This new monument is a testament to the diversity, inclusiveness, and individual freedom that make America great.
Trevor (born 20 February 1984) is a South African television and radio host, and comedian, known for his role as host of The Daily Show on American network Comedy Central since September 2015.
He is a Black man … he knows how this feels.
America should be ashamed but then again, there is so much to be ashamed for, that this is only a small drop in a huge bucket.
On Wednesday night’s episode, June 21, of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah devoted the second half of his monologue to his devastation after seeing the just-released dash-cam video footage of the Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year.
Last week, the officer was acquitted on all charges, including manslaughter.
I won’t lie to you.
When I watched this video, it broke me.
It just – it broke me. You see so many of these videos, and you start to get numb, but this one? Seeing the child, that little girl, getting out of the car, after watching a man get killed, it broke my heart into little pieces.
Like, I thought of every joke people make about “Oh, the most confusing day in the hood is Father’s Day”:
“People don’t know where their parents are, ha-ha. Black dads.” That’s a black dad that’s gone.
That’s a child that grows up not knowing what it’s like to have somebody in their life.
It’s one thing to have the system against you – the district attorneys, the police unions, the courts – that’s one thing. But when a jury of your peers, your community, sees this evidence and decides that even this is self-defense, that is truly depressing. Because what they’re basically saying is in America, it is officially reasonable to be afraid of a person just because they are black.
And that’s the truth of what we saw with this verdict.
It was a night of fun and celebration at a Latin even at Pulse, a local LGBTQ night club in Orlando.
Most victims were Latino and Hispanic.
It was Pulse’s Latin Night.
It was a horrible situation. It was a huge hit for the Latino and Hispanic communities. It was reported that 90% of the victims were Latino/Hispanic with 23 of the victims from Puerto Rico.
~Drumpf’s first 100 days have been a total disaster for LGBT people~
Drumpf is marking his first 100 days as President of the United States, and he is not off to a great start for LGBT equality.
The Republican Presidential candidate took office in January following an electoral college victory over Hillary Clinton, who won 3 million more ballots in the popular vote than Drumpf overall.
Drumpf was once considered a moderate on LGBT rights, but since he took power in January, there has been a rapid shift in policy on LGBT issues.
GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is a U.S. non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people in the media. Before March 2013, the name “GLAAD” had been an acronym for “Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation”, but became the primary name due to its inclusiveness of bisexual and transgender issues.
Its stated mission, in part, is to “amplify the voice of the LGBT community by empowering real people to share their stories, holding the media accountable for the words and images they present, and helping grassroots organizations communicate effectively.”
~~President Trump Starts Erasing LGBTQ Americans in First 100 Days~~
~~Published on Apr 28, 2017~~
Since the moment Drumpf won the 2016 election, GLAAD’s main priority has been to hold the incoming administration accountable on any potential anti-LGBTQ policies it may try to enforce.
From erasing any mentions of LGBTQ Americans from government websites to deleting LGBTQ people from the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census, Drumpf and his administration have proven to us that they are no friends of LGBTQ Americans and in fact are trying to remove us from the fabric of this nation.
By all measures, 2015 will be remembered as a banner year for LGBT rights in the United States
The Supreme Court gave gays and lesbians the right to wed.
Popular culture and public opinion continued to increasingly accept transgender identities and same-sex relationships. Corporate advocacy beat back state religious-freedom laws that would have provided a defense for discrimination. And there are more than 450 openly gay elected officials currently serving across the country.
But backers don’t expect the good news to continue, at least in the short term.
Syria has been at the forefront of the news for several years.
We know about the war raging within its borders.
We have seen the many refugees leaving and running into uncertain conditions about their travels and their eventual destination.
This week, the situation attracted a huge spotlight due to the launching of Tomahawk missiles, early Friday, April 7, by the United States on a base in western Syria that the United States says was used to launch Tuesday’s chemical attack, April 4, which left nearly 100 people dead and hundreds more injured.
The video explains the many details, factions, alliances and ‘players’.
Ezra Klein brings you a video that starts where all good videos of this type start: from the beginning of the conflict so as to understand how it has morphed beyond its original intent.
After four-plus years of fighting, Syria’s war has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced 12 million people. And, though it started as a civil war, it’s become much more than that.
It’s a proxy war that has divided much of the Middle East, and has drawn in both Russia and the United States.
To understand how Syria got to this place, it helps to start at the beginning and watch it unfold.
There’s no way that anyone who is sane and has a functional mind; anyone who hasn’t drank the Kool-Aid; anyone concerned about this country and the world – can’t let their guard down.
This is a historic time for the planet that we live in.
It Is What It Is 