Celebrating Pride

KC Pride Fest was such an incredible event where we got to meet so many of you. We had a prime location where we got to watch many of the performances and feel the strength of the community; which, for us, is always so affirming and uplifting!

Pride began after the Stonewall Riots in 1969, which many people are already familiar with. But, the history of LGBTQ Activism goes back much further than that. In 1950, the Mattachine Society (the first social club/organization for gay men) was founded by Harry Hay and it took over two years to convince men to come out of the shadows and join him. Five years later, the Daughters of Bilitis, an all female social club was formed.

The Stonewall riots didn't just happen overnight. The organizers of the riots were building off the foundation already paved for them and so many people often overlook other riots that took place, only because Stonewall received so much more national attention. But did you know, not only three years prior (in August 1966), there were riots in San Francisco after police continued their harassment of trans women and drag queens, who would often visit Compton's Cafeteria (two miles from the famous Castro District) in the middle of the night, which became a safe haven to them (until management became disgruntled with their presence). These women and drag queens stood up to the police brutality, but much of what happened that night has been long forgotten.