Queer Pride and Protest — a Photo History

Pride began after the New York City Stonewall uprising in 1969, a riot turned movement turned a decades-long push and pull between celebration, liberation, and protest that exists in cities across the U.S. today. A year after Stonewall, Pride marches sprang up in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and later spread to cities worldwide.

Pride, of course, was preceded by many protests over harassment: in Philadelphia at Dewey’s Lunch Counter (1965); in San Francisco at Compton’s Cafeteria (1966); in New York at Whitehall Street (1964) and the Julius Sip-in (1966); and in Los Angeles at the PatchBar (1968); Coopers Do-nuts (1959); and the Black Cat (1967). The latter gave rise to The Advocate, founded the same year. (There was even a White House protest by the East Coast Homophile Organization in 1965.)

Times have changed, but the resilience of Pride remains. Ahead of Pride month 2022 when there are new and pointed attacks on trans folks and queer kids with more than 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the works around the country, Pride and protest go hand-in-hand as much as ever. Here’s a look back in photos at this 53-year tradition of Pride and protest.

(Opposite) Drag performers from NYC’s  82 Club at the fourth annual Gay Pride Day in 1973 including (far right) trans performer Chrysis St. Laurent and (next to her) Canadian queen Jene Chandler (who later starred in  Strange Shadows in an Empty Room).

This story is part of The Advocate’s 2022 Champions of Pride issue, which is out on newsstands May 17, 2022. To get your own copy directly, support queer media and subscribe — or download yours for Amazon, Kindle, Nook, or Apple News.

A 1983 Pride march shows intersectionality isn’t new.

OK, technically it’s not at Pride, but when ACT UP famously shut down the Food and Drug Administration for the day in 1988 (carrying effigies of George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jesse Helms, and others  who refused to address the AIDS epidemic it was (wait for it) legendary.

Kink goes all peace and love at San Francisco Pride in 1990.

Wielding super platforms and a whip at NYC’s LGBTQ+ Pride Parade in 1991.

Two moms, two kids, and one  “Dyke” sign at a 1995 California Pride event.