ACC Takes Pride

Remembering Stonewall: The police raided Stonewall Inn on the morning of June 28, 1969. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar. At one point, an officer hit a le***an over the head as he forced her into the police van— she shouted to onlookers to act, inciting the crowd to begin throwing pennies, bottles, and cobble stones. Though the six-day uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBT activism. On the one-year anniversary of the riots, thousands of people marched in the streets of Manhattan from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park in what was then called “Christopher Street Liberation Day,” America’s first gay pride parade.

In 2016, the President designated the site of the riots; Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets and sidewalks, a national monument in recognition of the area’s contribution to gay rights. As we near the end of Pride Month this year, Hope Shores Alliance supports all people to live their truth and find fulfillment in the consensual relationship(s) of their choosing.

[Image description: A black and white photograph of the Stonewall Inn is surrounded by the text "Remembering STONEWALL". Rainbow colors adorn the windows in the photo, and the block lettering of the text "Stonewall" is colored with rainbow to match.]