Austin Mayor Jeff Friedman would declare a Gay Pride Celebration Week in June, 1976. Austin Monthly chronicles how organizations like the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Women’s Liberation held events in 1970, a year after the Stonewall riots.
In Texas, Pride events have been happening since the 1970’s. After the Greenwich Village bar the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York Police Department on June 28, 1969, LGBTQ patrons (many of whom were people of color) and their neighbors rioted for over six days. The June Pride month commemorates what is now known as the Stonewall uprising, an important moment in the history for LGBTQ liberation. Though many cities and municipalities in Texas celebrate Pride later in the year (and congratulations to Abilene on announcing they will be holding their first Pride event in September), we thought we could take the time now to look back at some of the most important moments in Texas Pride History.
