The spirit of
Stonewall lives on.

June 28, 1969

Early in the morning of June 28, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village bar that had become a staple of New York City's underground gay community. But this time, tired of the ongoing raids, community members fought back, striking what would become known as The Stonewall Riots.

June 28, 1970

A year after Stonewall, the first Gay Pride March was held by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee to commemorate the riots. The New York Times reported that the marchers took up the entire street for about 15 city blocks.

June 24, 1973

One of the first major successes of the movement came when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM-II, where it had been listed alongside pedophilia and zoophilia. Pride organizations began forming in major cities throughout the U.S. to continue the fight.

October 14, 1979

Following the ten-year anniversary of Stonewall and the assassination of Harvey Milk, thousands took to the streets for the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The struggle had been a collection of local ones, but for the first time, it garnered major national attention.

June 5, 1981

June 5, 1981, saw the first reports of a rare pneumonia that was killing gay men, and soon other diseases began to attack their weakened immune systems, a condition that would become known as "GRID" (gay related immune deficiency) until eventually being known as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) when it became clear that everyone was vulnerable to HIV, the virus identified in 1984. AIDS would decimate gay men in the United States for more than a decade before effective treatments were found. Despite advances, HIV/AIDS remains a leading cause of death for gay and bisexual men in the United States.

June 24, 1984

Pride celebrations had been established in many major cities in the U.S., as well as around the world. Heritage of Pride was founded in 1984 to take over the planning of New York City Pride events from the disbanded Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee, former organizers of The March and Rally.

June 28, 1993

The U.S. Government had just passed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but the good news was that gay rights remained front and center at Capitol Hill and on the streets of New York. Heritage of Pride took over the Christopher Street Festival, renaming it PrideFest.

October 16, 1997

Obstacles, like the Defense of Marriage Act, continued to get in the way, but the community marched on. Heritage of Pride hosted the 16th annual International Association of Lesbian & Gay Pride Coordinators conference, the first to have substantial participation from international committees.

March 15, 2000

Vermont passed the first laws allowing for Civil Unions and Registered Partnerships among LGBTQIA+ couples. It was one small step that will help pave the way for future policies.

May 17, 2004

For the first time, same-sex marriage laws were passed in Massachusetts. Laws continued to ban gay marriage in Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oregon and Utah. Civil Unions were banned in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Wisconsin.

November 4, 2008

In California, another victory for same-sex marriage was swiftly struck down several months later when voters pass ballot initiative Proposition 8.

August 4, 2010

A federal court declared California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional, while Washington, New Hampshire, Maryland and Washington, D.C. all recognized same-sex marriage. Though the struggle for gay marriage rights continued, progress was being made quicker than ever.

June 15, 2011

On the eve of Pride weekend, state lawmakers voted to make New York the sixth state in the nation, and the most populous thus far, to legally recognize same-sex marriages. The Empire State joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia.

June 26, 2013

One of NYC Pride's 2013 Grand Marshals, Edie Windsor brought her fight against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to the U.S. Supreme Court and won! The Federal Government now recognized same-sex marriages in states where they are legal, but the list of states still banning same-sex marriages was long.

June 28, 2015

46 years after a riot at the Stonewall Inn ushered in the modern gay rights movement, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples can marry nationwide. The fight continued across the nation, as full protections (including housing, employment, and public accommodations) proved illusive in many states.