1/ THREAD: A brief #LGBTHistory for this #Pride. Really FEEL THIS. Prior to the 1970s, being LGBT was ILLEGAL & homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Police would conduct a raid, arrest you, cuff you, humiliate you, then publish your name, address & photo in the paper.
2/ After your name, address & mugshot appeared in your local paper, you’d then be fired from your job. There were no legal protections--which is still true in 28 of 50 states today, but back then it was a near certainty.
3/ And then at Compton’s, at Stonewall, our LGBT forebears fought back. They said “No more" to these police raids on their communities. Along with Vietnam objectors, civil rights activists and feminists, they protested. They were targets. It was dangerous.
4/ Gays were seen as threats to children and the public at large. By rights, Harvey Milk's '78 assassination should've made us afraid, but no. It only encouraged more of us to cautiously come out and change public perceptions. Then came the '80s & the plague: HIV/AIDS.
5/ To say HIV/AIDS devastated the LGBT community would be an understatement. Death surrounded us. Again we fought back: against Reagan, religion, the law. We cared for our own because no one else would. We'll never comprehend all we lost.
6/ From the AIDS Quilt/NAMES Project to mainstreaming. Ellen. "Will & Grace." "Angels in America." Two steps back: Don’t ask don’t tell and DOMA. "One man, one woman." Second class was not enough, so we kept fighting back.
7/ Then Edie Windsor & Jim Obergefell (ahem, both SAGE board members) and overturning DADT. #MarriageEquality. And now? More fighting back than ever. But we know how to do this! Older #LGBT folks have lived through this before. We found the light in darkness and kept on going.
8/ Of course our community is “I’m Coming Out” and the Village People and Madonna and Lady Gaga and “Drag Race” and the rest--but it’s also Daughters of Bilitis and Mattachine Society. It’s families of choice and the ongoing fight for equality. It's our history and our future.
9/ But we have so much more work to do. This administration is doing all it can to erase us, and we must once again take care of our own. We must step up. Fight back. Make noise. Give 'em hell. Be #proud. We #LGBT people know that we can never take our rights for granted.
10/ So be the kind of activist your LGBT elders would be proud of. Fight for those who fought for you, the ones who came out when it was illegal and dangerous. We're older now, but we're still as determined as ever. Help us in the fight this #Pride at sageusa.org
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