On June 28 , 1969 , New York City police force conducted a raid on the Stonewall Inn , a pop gay bar in Greenwich Village . The raid was ostensibly because the place miss a liquor license — authorities did n’t often O.K. them for sunny bar — but it was the latest in a long line of actions taken specifically to oppress the city ’s LGBTQ community .
officer started arresting people , and when one reach his detainee , onlooker began to hit back . The police were forced to block up themselves inside the bar as the mob grew in force and number , kick off a series of protest that lasted for several day . The so - called “ Stonewall Riots ” ( or “ Stonewall Uprising ” ) were n’t the first time the commonwealth ’s LGBTQ community had fight back openly against systemic subjugation and human right violations ; in fact , the first gay rightfulness safari in the U.S.datesback to 1924 . But the Stonewall Riots made an especially lasting impression , and Greenwich Village localshelda march to check the day of remembrance in 1970 . The root was “ gay pride , ” and the LGBTQ communities of Chicago , San Francisco , and Los Angeles also organized events for the affair .
Though the Stonewall Riots helped usher in a newfangled earned run average of LGBTQ activism and “ Gay Pride ” became the catchword for an increasingly orbicular movement , the U.S. did n’t recognize that significance at the national degree until 1999 . In June of that year , President Bill Clintoncommemoratedthe thirtieth day of remembrance of Stonewall by declaring June as “ Gay and Lesbian Pride Month . ” Ten year later , President Barack Obama issued another proclamation update its title to “ Lesbian , Gay , Bisexual , and Transgender Pride Month . ”
“ As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled , all Americans are affected . If we can put to work together to advance the principles upon which our commonwealth was launch , every American will do good , ” he wrote [ PDF ] . “ During LGBT Pride Month , I call upon the LGBT community , the Congress , and the American multitude to work together to promote equal right hand for all , regardless of sexual preference or grammatical gender identity . ”
