pride’s dying?
Just a little P.S. to yesterday… apparently New York City’s Pride is having a permit problem with the city administration, and the organizing committee met just a couple of days ago to figure out whether or not they should cancel the whole thing. Their website doesn’t say anything about the decision resulting from that meeting, but knowing they’re at the point of potentially cancelling Pride… yowza. I mean, I referenced Stonewall in yesterday’s post, but for chrissakes, we’re not even in the same country - whereas New York is the very city where the Stonewall riots happened in the first place. And they might have to cancel Pride?! This is nuts.
As Wikipedia so kindly explains: "The forces that were simmering before the riots were now no longer beneath the surface. The community created by the homophile organizations of the previous two decades had created the perfect environment for the creation of the Gay Liberation Movement. By the end of July the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed in New York and by the end of the year the GLF could be seen in cities and universities around the country. (…) The following year, in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots, the GLF organized a march from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Between 5,000 and 10,000 men and women attended the march. Many gay pride celebrations choose the month of June to hold their parades and events to celebrate “The Hairpin Drop Heard Round the World" (D’Emilio 232)."
So there you have it, folks. The original Pride, 1970-2007. RIP. Well, OK, I’m crossing my fingers it won’t come to that, but it’s a rather funereal thought nonetheless.
Good thing it’s so damn sunny and warm out, or I might just cry.
