On
June
28,
1969,
police
who
went
to
conduct
a
routine
raid
at
a
New
York
City
gay
bar
called
the
Stonewall
Inn
got
a
major
surprise:
A
ragtag
bunch
of
drag
queens,
gay
men
and
lesbians
fought
back
against
the
police
harassment
in
what
became
known
as
the
Stonewall
Riots.
The
significance
of
the
tumultuous
three
days
that
followed
seemed
immediately
clear.
By
the
next
year,
activists
in
several
cities
around
the
country
held
their
own
marches
and
rallies
to
observe
the
riot’s
anniversary.
These
marches
became
the
first
Gay
Pride
celebrations,
and
the
riots
that
sparked
them
became
known
as
the
beginning
of
the
modern
gay
rights
movement.
1970
On
the
first
anniversary
of
the
Stonewall
Riots,
some
sources
say
about
100
activists
marched
down
Peachtree
Street.
The
march
received
no
media
coverage,
and
no
known
records
remain,
leading
some
to
dispute
whether
it
happened.
1971
Democratic
party
activist
Bill
Smith
legally
incorporates
the
revolutionary
Gay
Liberation
Front,
following
the
trend
of
GLF
groups
springing
up
around
the
country.
GLF
sponsors
Atlanta’s
first
official
“Gay
Liberation
Day”
(“lesbian”
isn’t
specifically
included
yet)
march
down
Peachtree
Street
to
Piedmont
Park.
The
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
covers
the
march
and
estimates
attendance
at
less
than
50;
GLF
estimates
125.
1972
Over
300
march
in
the
next
Gay
Pride,
which
is
covered
widely
by
local
television.
GLF
again
sponsors
the
event,
but
dissolves
the
next
year.
Charlie
St.
John
is
appointed
by
Atlanta
Mayor
Sam
Massell
to
the
city’s
Community
Relations
Commission.
He
is
the
city’s
first
openly
gay
appointee.
Pride
is
viewed
by
some
gay
businesses
as
too
radical,
and
two
large
gay
bars
throw
out
activists
distributing
Pride
fliers.
1973
Gay
Pride
continues
to
grow,
although
some
marchers
wear
paper
bags
over
their
heads
to
demonstrate
the
dangers
of
coming
out.
Gays
picket
the
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
after
Charlie
St.
John
is
fired
from
his
job
as
a
copy
carrier
for
distributing
Gay
Pride
fliers.
The
GBI
searches
St.
John’s
apartment
on
drug
charges
many
believe
to
be
fabricated.
1974
The
Atlanta
Lesbian
Feminist
Alliance,
formed
in
1972,
fields
the
first
openly
lesbian
softball
team
to
play
in
the
city
league,
and
helps
coordinate
Lesbian
&
Gay
Pride
Day.
1975
Local
gay
media
outlets
founded
in
the
year
before
now
cover
Pride,
with
attendance
estimated
at
600.
The
Barb
bills
itself
as
“the
groovy
newspaper
covering
Atlanta
and
the
Southeast”;
Cruise
is
a
gay
bar
guide.
1976
Gay
Pride
celebrates
the
theme
“Christopher
St.
South”
with
1,000
marchers.
Mayor
Maynard
Jackson
issues
a
“Gay
Pride
Day”
proclamation.
Angry
conservatives
form
Citizens
for
a
Decent
Atlanta,
call
for
Jackson’s
resignation,
and
take
out
large
newspaper
ads
claiming
the
proclamation
encourages
“acts
against
the
moral
laws
of
Judeo-Christian
tradition.”
The
Gay
Pride
Planning
Committee
renames
itself
the
Gay
Rights
Alliance,
and
although
there
was
often
tension
between
radical
activists
like
GLF
and
more
mainstream
groups
like
gay
churches
around
the
first
Pride
marches,
members
of
the
new
group
include
the
Atlanta
Lesbian
Feminist
Alliance,
Dykes
for
a
Second
American
Revolution,
the
Metropolitan
Community
Church,
Dignity
(gay
Catholics)
and
Integrity
(gay
Episcopalians).
1977
Stung
by
controversy
from
the
year
before,
Mayor
Jackson
issues
a
“Human
Rights
Week”
proclamation
instead
of
“Gay
Pride.”
About
1,500
attend
Pride,
in
which
the
Gay
Rights
Alliance
carries
a
banner
calling
for
national
gay
rights
legislation
and
an
Atlanta
gay
rights
ordinance
(not
passed
until
1986).
At
Pride,
Gil
Robison
announces
the
formation
of
a
gay
political
group,
First
Tuesday.
Suggested
chants
distributed
at
the
march
include
“Anita
Bryant
go
away:
Gay
rights
are
here
to
stay”
—
a
reference
to
the
controversial
orange
juice
queen
turned
anti-gay
spokesperson.
1978
Anita
Bryant
doesn’t
go
away,
and
in
fact
comes
to
Atlanta
to
give
the
keynote
address
at
the
Southern
Baptist
Convention
at
the
World
Congress
Center.
A
protest
at
Bryant’s
June
11
visit
takes
the
place
of
the
usual
gay
Pride
celebration,
and
police
estimate
2,000
march
on
the
World
Congress
Center.
Activists
place
attendance
as
high
as
4,000,
and
money
collected
at
the
rally
is
used
to
start
the
Atlanta
Gay
Center,
which
later
became
the
Atlanta
Gay
&
Lesbian
Center.
1979
Pride
is
put
together
by
those
helping
organize
the
First
National
March
on
Washington
for
Lesbian
&
Gay
Rights.
Ten
years
after
the
Stonewall
Riots,
Pride’s
theme
is
“Lavender
Anniversary.”
Events
include
the
first
gay
...
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