Pride and Juneteenth both honor marginalized communities’ resistance while naming an uncomfortable truth that is the perpetuation of racism and queerphobia in the United States. Through the late 1960s, law enforcement raided queer establishments simply to destroy LGBTQ-friendly spaces.
On June 28, 1969, hundreds of LGBTQ people of color, especially Black and Brown transgender women, led a major protest against the NYPD in Greenwich Village at the Stonewall Inn. Stonewall is an invitation to reflect on the struggles and triumphs of LGBTQ people, especially those with overlapping marginalized identities. But Stonewall wasn’t the first instance of resistance.
Ten years before Stonewall, in 1959, the Cooper Donuts Riot was a relatively small uprising in Los Angeles in response to law enforcement harassment. In 1966, at Compton Cafeteria, transgender and nonbinary individuals resisted police violence after anti-trans harassment. And in 1967—two years before the Stonewall Uprisings—the LAPD entered the Black Cat Tavern, arresting patrons, which led to an organized protest.
Like Pride, Juneteenth is also an invitation to reflect on systemic oppression, namely, white supremacy. Juneteenth is one of the oldest commemorations of the end of slavery in the U.S. The Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, but it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control, nor did it apply to border states.
The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the U.S. on January 31, 1865, and for Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, freedom finally came on June 19, 1865. However, Black Americans were enslaved in Delaware until December 6, 1865, when the 13th Amendment was finally ratified. Pride and Juneteenth both remind us of how government control over the lives, health, and autonomy of LGBTQ, Black, and other marginalized communities is deeply rooted in the history of this country.
