Police raids on gay bars in New York – specifically the Stonewall Inn – set off spontaneous and violent demonstrations that popularized the slogan 'Out of the closet and into the streets.' A year later, marchers walked up Polk Street, and by 1972, the event had become a parade, with an estimated 2,000 marchers and 15,000 spectators, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Gay Pride Day, celebrated around the country Sunday, is in marked contrast to an event that occurred on the same date in 1969. With last week’s ground-breaking Supreme Court ruling on marriage, civil rights for gay Americans have been largely achieved, paralleling a change in public attitudes that has moved rapidly toward acceptance as courts and legislative bodies passed new laws or eliminated old ones. The US armed forces rapidly accommodating gay and transgendered service members. Just a few years ago, it seemed almost unthinkable: Expanding legal protections for gay men and lesbians, whose sexual orientation, physically expressed, was widely considered a crime as well as a sin.
