By Carol Tannenhauser
“Friday was the anniversary of the Stonewall Riot [or Uprising], and Sunday is the Pride March. I just thought it was appropriate to post this,” wrote illustrator and animator Gary Martin, along with this week’s illustration.
Who besides me would like a ticket to Martoonerville?
Here’s some background on the Stonewall Uprising and Pride March, which is taking place in New York City this afternoon.
Pride Month ends on Sunday, June 30, with the Pride March, which passes by the newly opened Stonewall National Monument on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar, was raided by police, and many patrons and employees were ejected or arrested. For context, in 1969, “homosexuality was still considered a criminal offense,” and “individuals could not wear more than three items of clothing that did not match their assigned gender at birth (See: New York Penal Code 240.35, Subsection 4),” according to the Library of Congress. Furthermore, it had only been since 1966 that the prohibition against serving alcohol to known gays had been lifted. “This led many gay establishments to operate sans liquor license, providing an open door for raids and police brutality,” wrote the LOC. The police had a search warrant to investigate illegal alcohol sales at the Stonewall.
But a tipping point had been reached, and the gay community fought back, the LOC continued. “By that evening (Saturday, June 28), thousands of protesters had gathered at the Stonewall and in the surrounding area. The protests continued into the next week, with another outbreak of intense fighting occurring that following Wednesday.”
The Stonewall Uprising is widely considered the birth of the gay liberation movement and the concept of gay pride.
The first Pride March took place on the first anniversary of the uprising, June 28, 1970. “Although ‘gay power’ had been proposed as the slogan for the march, it was argued that the movement had yet to be politically empowered but that its members felt great pride in their sexual identity. Thus, it was decided that the march’s theme would be ‘gay pride,'” according to Britannica. That first march began at Christopher Street and culminated “51 blocks north in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow….Individuals joined the procession en route in solidarity, chanting such slogans as ‘Say it clear, say it loud. Gay is good, gay is proud.’”
For details on the 2024 Pride March, click — HERE.
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Gary’s work is always perfect. This is brilliant!
Great cartoon and article. Love that Gary Martin and look forward to his visual commentary.
Lovely, but I’m a little unnerved by the faceless spy in the trenchcoat in the lower right corner. Is he reporting back to cartoon HQ?
good eyes.
Agent 99 perhaps?
I’m heartened by how this movement — some 55 years in the making since Stonewall — has made great headway. But I’m saddened by the way some people lump all categories of “others” together. Not just re sexual orientation and/or gender identification. But by color. By religion. By social status. This illustration is terrific and celebratory and deserved — but our country has so much farther to go!
Wonderful cartoon and commentary.
Love this colorful celebration of love!
Love it!
Thank you Gary Martin!!!
Happy Pride!!!
Agree with Nancy. And I think gay rights would be stronger without the alphabet soup at the end. Simplify to gay rights and let the rest of them make THEIR case… nothing against all the other tag-ons, but dilutes the pro-gay message IMHO.
I can’t believe I am having to say this in 2024, but there is a wide world of queer people beyond the gay-straight binary. Some of the most dedicated activists in the gay rights movement have in fact hailed from that wider world — Sylvia Rivera, for example.
It disappoints me to see you refer to them dismissively and disparagingly as nothing more than “alphabet soup” and “tag-ons” who somehow don’t belong or aren’t pulling their weight in the cause for equality.
Thank you for giving the background and context – love the explanation of where “Gay Pride” came from. And the idea that you were limited in the clothes you could wear – insane! Great illustration as always!
thank you. the background and context was provided by Carol Tannenhauser. I don’t think I could string that many words together as well as she.
Love this!
Love the cartoon!!
Thanks for the Pride cheer! Love the cartoon.
A beautiful cartoon with a great message. Thank you for the info on the history of the Stonewall Riot. It’s a great way to wrap up Gay Pride Month.
Another winner Gary and I’m finding I’m looking forward to these every week. You do NOT disappoint! (Now I have to wait 7 long days to find artistic meaning.)
Love it! On target as always!
Thank you for the great article and the great art! (Someone should tell Gary Martin to make tee-shirts of that art for next year’s Pride…just saying.) Now more than ever, it’s important to remember that the reason for celebrations like Pride and Juneteenth were the struggles of people before us who made our lives much better as a result of their dedication to justice.
Love that idea! that’s a t-shirt I would buy.
As always, Gary’s work is brilliant! So glad to be seeing it in the West Side Rag.
Suitable for framing!
Happy end of Pride Month! Love the illustration!
Love the Laugh-In feeling of this. If only Paul Lynde were alive give it a soundtrack!
❤️🤩🌈❤️🤩🌈
What a nice way to commemorate a piece of NYC History. Well done!
The cartoon is so joyful. I cannot look at it without smiling!
I remember the Stonewall riots and the months leading to them when NYPD did raids on the bar….👎
Beautiful; love it.
This really encapsulates what the Gay Pride parade means to me. Colorful, diverse, fun, colorful, happy, crowded, and…colorful. Happy Pride.
Great graphic depiction of what we should be doing! Celebrating all people joyfully and openly! Thank you Gary