I love this country. I really do. I am very much an American, a direct descendant of founding mothers & fathers on both sides of my family. On my mother's side I have a direct line back to Martha Washington & on my father's side I am a relation to Edward Rutledge (my father's name also), a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
I have major quibbles with a great many of my fellow countrymen. At the very least, I don't believe it is an American value to put the basic civil rights of a minority up for the popular vote, a very bad idea for advancing society. This is why our form of government is such a superior system: We elect fellow citizens to make the big decisions & figure out a way to implement the plan. I insist that this country is an on-going project & I reject the Republican/Conservative notion of returning to "Those Good Old Days When America Stood For Something".
Only a week ago I did a post on Stonewall & what that night & those days that followed mean to gay Americans. But Stonewall, watershed moment that it was, is not the only baby steps taken by brave gay people to claim our basic rights.
July 4th commemorates the "Annual Reminder," the first public demonstration for gay rights in the USA, which began on this day in 1965, 4 years before the rebellion at the Stonewall Inn in NYC. The name of the event was selected to remind the public that a substantial amount of American citizens were being denied the rights of "life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness" as put forth in The Declaration Of Independence.
The peaceful, orderly protest of 39 brave souls, with lesbians wearing dresses & gay men in suits & ties, circled in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with signs bearing slogans such as "Homosexuals Should Be Judged as Individuals", & 15 Million Homosexual Americans Ask For Equality. Opportunity & Dignity." The "Annual Reminder" continued at the same spot on Philadelphia through 1969, but after the Stonewall riots the movement shifted to NYC.
There was very little press coverage, although Confidential magazine ran a feature- HOMOS ON THE MARCH!
I have major quibbles with a great many of my fellow countrymen. At the very least, I don't believe it is an American value to put the basic civil rights of a minority up for the popular vote, a very bad idea for advancing society. This is why our form of government is such a superior system: We elect fellow citizens to make the big decisions & figure out a way to implement the plan. I insist that this country is an on-going project & I reject the Republican/Conservative notion of returning to "Those Good Old Days When America Stood For Something".
Only a week ago I did a post on Stonewall & what that night & those days that followed mean to gay Americans. But Stonewall, watershed moment that it was, is not the only baby steps taken by brave gay people to claim our basic rights.
July 4th commemorates the "Annual Reminder," the first public demonstration for gay rights in the USA, which began on this day in 1965, 4 years before the rebellion at the Stonewall Inn in NYC. The name of the event was selected to remind the public that a substantial amount of American citizens were being denied the rights of "life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness" as put forth in The Declaration Of Independence.
The peaceful, orderly protest of 39 brave souls, with lesbians wearing dresses & gay men in suits & ties, circled in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with signs bearing slogans such as "Homosexuals Should Be Judged as Individuals", & 15 Million Homosexual Americans Ask For Equality. Opportunity & Dignity." The "Annual Reminder" continued at the same spot on Philadelphia through 1969, but after the Stonewall riots the movement shifted to NYC.
There was very little press coverage, although Confidential magazine ran a feature- HOMOS ON THE MARCH!
The organizer was Craig Rodwell, an early gay activist, one time lover of Harvey Milk & Founder of The Oscar Wilde Bookstore in NYC. Behind the protest was Barbara Gittings, who had moved to Philadelphia in the 1950s & became one of the country's most important gay activists. She also helped organize picket lines at the White House and the U.S. State Department. Among her many accomplishments, she was instrumental in getting the American Psychiatric Association to drop homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses in 1972.
The Annual Reminders were commemorated in 2005 by the placement of a Pennsylvania State Historical Marker at 6th & Chestnut Streets in Phili.
Wouldn't it be a kick & plenty subversive if at the 2012 Pride Parades, all the marchers showed up in dresses, suites & ties?
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