Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
WORLAND – The first pride was a riot. For six nights, demonstrations of anger and vandalism perused before the Stonewall Inn, hundreds of LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, etcetera) activists making it clear – from there on out, the LGBTQ+ movement would be louder and more visible.
It started June 28, 1969, when the New York City Police barged into the Stonewall Inn. According to History.com, the inn was registered as a bottle bar, meaning that they didn’t require a liquor license because patrons were supposed to provide their own. This was because the New York State Liquor authority didn’t give out licenses to establishments serving “gay” patrons, because, at that time, solicitation of homosexual relations was illegal in New York City.
Inside, officers roughed up patrons when finding bootlegged alcohol and arresting 13 people – including employees and people violating the states gender-appropriate clothing statute.
Patrons waited outside while handcuffed, drawing a crowd. The crowd reacted to this, responding by throwing pennies, bottles, cobblestones and other objects at the officers, prompting them to take cover.
This event would soon become known as the Stonewall Riots.
Casper’s United Church of Christ will be holding a ceremony to honor the 50 year anniversary of this event. The 50th anniversary of Stonewall celebration is this Friday, June 28 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The celebration will include special guest speakers, pride-themed festivities and a commemoration ceremony.
Tolerant public is invited to the ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of riots and discuss how LGBTQ+ rights have evolved since that night.
“Intolerance is not tolerated,” Kenedy Reilly, a member of the church and LGBTQ+ member and activist, explained. “We want to be as open as possible, but we have to shut out those who might want to ruin our safe space. As far as I know, we haven’t had any trouble in the past, but we are certainly not allowing it to start now.”
Though Casper PRIDE, a sponsor of the ceremony, has been holding events for more than four years, this will be the first time the organization will be commemorating Stonewall.
“I hope it becomes a yearly event, though,” Reilly said.
“The first pride was a riot,” Reilly said. “Sure, now it’s a time of celebration, but the first one was intense and an incredibly important time in our history. They don’t teach anything about the SAGA [Sexuality and Gender Awareness/Acknowledgement] community in school, and purposefully cut out our history to avoid it. If you want to learn anything, you have to do it yourself. Not only do I want to learn, but I want to pay my respects. It is because of Stormé DeLarverie, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and many more activists that we get to have the celebration we do today. It’s something we as a community should never forget.”