The Stonewall Parade celebrates the struggle for Gay Civil Rights in America that began 43 years ago. Alan Batie recounts: During the last weekend of June of 1969, police and Alcoholic Beverage Control Board agents entered a gay bar--The Stonewall Inn, on Christopher Street, in New York City. Allegedly there to look for violations of the alcohol control laws, they made the usual homophobic comments and then, after checking identification, threw the patrons out of the bar, one by one. Instead of quietly slipping away into the night, as we had done for years, hustlers, drag queens, students and other patrons held their ground and fought back. Someone uprooted a parking meter and used it to barricade the door. The agents and police were trapped inside, They wrecked the place and called in reinforcements. Their vehicles raced to the scene with lights glaring and sirens blaring. The crowd grew. Someone set a fire. More people came. For three days, people protested. And for the first time, after innumerable years of oppression, the chant, "Gay Power", rang out and has been heard ever since.
Don't ever take American Liberies for granted.
An entertaining video of the 2012 event by Paul Straub a Realtor that believes, "It Takes more than just a house to make you feel at home."
