28 June is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Stonewall has a special significance in the queer community, as the riots are considered the beginning of the modern queer emancipation movement.
The name Stonewall goes back to the Stonewall Inn, a queer bar on Christopher Street in New York. On the night of 28 June 1969, the New York police carried out an arbitrary, brutal raid against the bar’s peaceful patrons, primarily drag queens and trans people of colour like Marsha P. Johnson or Sylvia Rivera.
This resulted in riots and street battles that lasted for several days.
Fear turned into courage, hiding turned into pride.
You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.
There had been uprisings against arbitrary police violence against queer people before. However, Stonewall was the first united protest by the queer community against discrimination and in favour of equal rights.
The uprising in 1969 was a reason for many people around the world to stand up for the rights of queer people and celebrate their queerness. The Stonewall riots gave rise to today’s Christopher Street Days and Pride events.
Today we commemorate 55 years of Stonewall. A long road of struggles for diversity and equality lies behind us. Even though a lot has been achieved in many areas, we are still a long way from reaching our goal. Therefore, on this anniversary, we would like to make a special appeal to demonstrate in favour of those who are still discriminated against or even persecuted, punished, abused or killed because of their sexuality and/or gender identity.
55 years of Stonewall also means 32 years of Leipzig Pride! On 28 June 1992, under the militant motto “Lesbians and gays in the constitution!”, around 100 courageous people met at the Moritzbastei to demonstrate for queer rights. We are particularly proud and grateful that some of them are still part of our organising team today!
