Photo credit: The WashingtonianIt takes a special sort of bravery to turn afight for liberation into a celebration of identity.Yet, the legacy of the Stonewall Riots lives on not just in its home of New YorkCity, but in most major cities around the world. Every June, the LGBTQ+community throughout the world ignites with a commemoration and celebration ofexactly what the month is named for: pride. From the riots of the 1960s to themonth-long celebration today, the movement for queer and transgender rights hasnot been easily won, but has blossomed with every passing year. To reflect onthe resilience of a community for which the fight is not over (yet the party hasjust begun), let us return to its inception on one hot night in June, 1969. The Stonewall Inn was a haven for queer and transgender folks throughout the60s. At the time, acts of homosexuality were not just taboo, they were illegalin every U.S. state except Illinois. If authorities discovered an establishmentserved openly gay patrons, it would promptly be shut down. However, the queercommunity found a small, tenuous niche in the system: many New York bars andrestaurants at this time were run by the Mafia. This meant that owners ofestablishments such as the Stonewall Inn would pay police officers to look theother way while keeping a tight grip on their gay patrons through blackmail, andthreatening to out them. While the relationship was unstable, it carved a smallspace for members of the community to gather without fear of retaliation. Photo credit: Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images.But, on June 28, 1969, everythingchanged. The previous Tuesday, members of the New York police force conducted apreliminary raid of Stonewall, citing the use of an improper liquor license.They returned on Friday with the hopes of shutting the place down for good.However, as they attempted to arrest transgender patrons on the grounds of"masquerading" (dressing as the opposite sex was considered a crime), a fightbroke out. Though the details don't reveal who threw the first brick, the raidquickly turned into a riot. Bottles were thrown at the officers, their tiresslashed. Tear gas was unloaded on the rioters, and the scene remained grislyuntil about 4 AM, when police retreated. When the dust settled, no injuries ordeaths had occurred, but something in the air had changed. The fight forliberation, that had always been around but never walked freely in the light ofday, had entered the streets.Photo credit: Public Domain.Throughout the following weeks, more and moremembers of the queer and transgender community began to congregate at theStonewall Inn. The movement began to organize and form more radical societiessuch as the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). Thefollowing year, on June 28, 1970, New York organizers set to commemorate theanniversary of the riots by staging the Christopher Street Liberation March. Bythe time it kicked off, the crowd ran 15 blocks strong, and representedthousands of individuals. Cities across the nation were watching, and inspired.Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago all began organization of theirown marches – taking their own stand against the commonplace oppression to say,frankly, they'd seen enough. The activism set off by the Stonewall riots continued throughout the close ofthe 20th century and well into the 21st. Throughout the AIDS epidemic of the1980s, during which gay men were targeted and denied proper health care, the gayliberation movement was that which offered the most ardent activism andproactivity for the protection of queer lives. Today, June is designated Pride Month in remembrance of these hard-won battles.While it has never been easy to fight against a system which has no interest inprotecting its queer and transgender citizens, the Pride movement has more thanpicked up the slack (and celebrates its resilience in style). This month,celebrate the LGBTQ+ community by donating to one of the organizations[https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=5013] whichcontinue to fight for freedom for everyone. Happy Pride!Photo credit: Photo via Maria Belen Perez Gabilondo/AFP/Getty Images.