SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. — On Monday, a group of Sevier County residents said they plan to speak at the county commission meeting and ask commissioners to formally proclaim June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Organizers said they submitted a proposed proclamation that would acknowledge the historical significance of celebrating Pride Month and honoring people who fought for equality dating back to 1969. That year, the Stonewall Uprising began after nine policemen entered the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
"The large numbers of drag queens that frequented Stonewall were usually unwelcomed most other places. Stonewall also attracted those who could not afford to go to other more expensive bars; the entry fee for the night was only $3. Many youths that visited Stonewall were runaways and many even homeless," said Baruch College.
Homosexuality was effectively illegal at that time, according to historians, and police arrested employees of the Stonewall Inn on charges of selling alcohol without a license. They also arrested anyone who was not wearing clothes that police deemed appropriate for their gender, following a New York criminal statute that allowed them to be arrested.
Raids on bars serving the LGBTQ community were routine at the time, and the Stonewall Inn had even been raided earlier that week. It was also not the only bar to face police persecution — at least five other bars were raided that week. But when police tried to arrest members of the LGBTQ community on June 28, 1969, they did not retreat.
Some began to throw bottles and debris at police officers while members of the LGBTQ community were beaten inside the bar, and police called for reinforcements, according to historians.
One woman who was arrested and hit over the head by a police officer with a club started yelling at the crowd, "Do something," according to Baruch College. On the night of June 28, 1969, members of the LGBTQ community clashed with police and sparked six days of demonstrations and conflicts.
Now, Stonewall Inn is a national monument.
"[The events] marked a major change in the struggle for 'homophile rights' in the U.S., with lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and transgender people beginning to vocally and assertively demand their civil rights," according to the National Park Service.
Pride Month is celebrated in June to mark the demonstrations that started on June 28, 1969, and to celebrate the legalization of gay marriage through the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision. The proclamation would "proclaim and annually recognize June as LGBTQ Pride Month in Sevier County to honor the valiant efforts to obtain, secure, and promote true equality and inclusivity in this great nation."
Organizers said they have gathered more than 600 signatures from residents, workers and visitors in Sevier County to urge commissioners to sign the proclamation. The proclamation also highlights Sevier County's LGBTQ community and says "all people should have the right to live their lives openly and authentically without the threat of judgment, discrimination, prejudice, or violence on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity."
