Origins of Pride

June 1969 Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, was raided by the police. The patrians fought back, leading to several days of riots and protests. The Stonewall riot marked the start of fighting for lgbtq+ rights.

Starting the next year (1970), pride parades every June all over the US have celebrated the memory of this event, and have been a reminder to carry on the fight. Pride has since spread so that today it’s celebrated in most countries around the world. With influences from liberalism, the lgbtq+ struggle became less radical. It started to be more about adapting to and fitting societal norms. As well as adaptation to become so called family friendly, and emphasizing the nuclear family. This led to diminished focus on demanding rights for lgbtq+ people on Pride.

Pride was born from a radical movement. Pride was born from the struggle against discrimination, criminalisation and oppression. In spite of the radical roots, today companies are capitalizing on Pride and lgbtq+ identities.

An example of this is reducing Pride to rainbow coloured goods peddeled to the queer community. The police and political parties are joining in Pride, while lgbtq+ people are still being discriminated by those same organizations.

A lot of these parties and organizations want to take away lgbtq+ peoples’ rights such as the rights to make a family, live together, and have access to medical care. It’s a necessity for the lgbtq+ struggle to find its radical roots again and refuse to accept compromises with our rights!

Many cities around Sweden and the globe already have more radical alternatives to the commercial Pride, a way to reclaim Pride. Now it’s time for Umeå to find our roots again.