0" AUGUST 6, VANCOUVER WILL BE
COMMEMORATING ITS 39TH ANNIVERSARY OF

CELEBRATING PRIDE. PRIDE IN VANCOUVER

BEGAN IN 1973, WHEN THE GAY ALLIANCE TOWARD
EQUALITY HOSTED THEIR FIRST PRIDE EVENT,

A PICNIC AT CEPERLEY PARK. IT WASN’T UNTIL
FIVE YEARS LATER, IN 1978, THAT THE FIRST

VANCOUVER PRIDE PARADE WAS ORGANIZED, AND
SINCE THEN VANCOUVER HAS BEEN FAMOUS FOR
HAVING ONE OF THE BIGGEST PRIDE PARADES

IN THE WORLD. TO FULLY APPRECIATE THE
CELEBRATION OF PRIDE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO
UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY BEHIND IT, THE EVENTS
THAT UNFOLDED, AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE IT

ALL POSSIBLE.

THE YEAR WAS 1969. POLICE RAIDS AT GAY BARS
AND CLUBS WERE A COMMON OCCURRENCE, SO

MUCH SO THAT PATRONS WOULD TYPICALLY LEAVE CE EBRATIN

THE BAR AND DISPERSE WITHIN A MATTER OF

MINUTES, BUT IN THE EARLY HOURS OF MORNING RN OF
ON JUNE 28, THE PATRONS OF THE STONEWALL INN USTO

WERE FED UP. FED UP WITH BEING CONSTANTLY

TARGETED BY POLICE, FOR BEING DISCRIMINATED ERGET
AGAINST, AND FOR BEING UNABLE TO EXPRESS ESSICA B )
THEIR INDIVIDUALITY, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN

HISTORY, THEY FOUGHT BACK, By J aIER

THE STONEWALL INN WAS A MAFIA-RUN GAY CLUB S TATE lw

AND BAR ON CHRISTOPHER STREET IN NEW YORK
City. THE 1960S WERE NOT A WELCOMING TIME
FOR LGBTQ+ FOLK, IN NEW YORK ESPECIALLY.
SOLICITATION OF HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS WAS
ILLEGAL IN THE STATE DURING THIS TIME,
AND THERE WAS A STATUTE IN PLACE THAT
ALLOWED POLICE TO ARREST THOSE
WHO WERE WEARING LESS THAN
THREE GENDER SPECIFIC

ARTICLES OF CLOTHING.
BECAUSE OF THESE

   
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  

INEQUALITIES, THE
ONLY PLACE FOR GAY,
LESBIAN AND TRANS & 5
FOLK TO SOCIALIZE

FREELY WAS AT
GAY BARS.
NATURALLY,
THEY FLOCKED
TO THESE

CLUBS AS

A PLACE

OF REFUGE.
ONLY IN THE
GAY CLUBS
COULD LGBTQ+
PEOPLE EXPRESS
THEMSELVES, EXPRESS
THEIR SEXUALITY, AND
SOCIALIZE WITH THEIR
COMMUNITY WITHOUT
ANXIETY. HOWEVER, GAY
BARS AT THE TIME WERE
SUSCEPTIBLE TO RAIDS
BY POLICE AS IT WAS
ILLEGAL TO ENGAGE

IN PUBLICLY GAY
BEHAVIOUR. IT WAS
ALSO LEGAL TO

DENY A SUSPECTED
HOMOSEXUAL ALCOHOL
BECAUSE, AS THE

NEw YORK STATE

LIQUOR AUTHORITY