The Stonewall Inn, located in New York City's Greenwich Village, was the site of the 1969 riots. The window reads "We homosexuals plead with our people to please help maintain peaceful and quiet conduct on the streets of the Village." Photo by Diana Davies, copyright owned by New York Public Library.

Not quite at the end of the rainbow

By Samantha Oser Last updated Oct 13, 2014 139 0

A six-day raid of a gay bar called Stonewall Inn in 1969 spurred the first great march in San Francisco, 1970. This “Gay In” march inspired future Gay Pride parades, and marked the beginning of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Ally (LGBTQA) community being out in the open.

Fifty thousand people gathered for the second great march, this time on Washington D.C., Oct. 11, 1987, demanding President Ronald Regan to address equal rights and the AIDS crisis. The march, which included celebrities and activists such as Whoopi Goldberg and Cesar Chavez, enabled Ron Eichberg, founder of the personal growth workshop, The Experience, and Jean O’Leary, head of National Gay Rights Advocates, to create National Coming Out Day (NCOD).

Since 1987, legislation has been implemented to allow gays to serve in the military and 25 states have legalized gay marriage. Although some laws have been actualized, not all of the states allow for gay marriage and most couples are discriminated against for adoption. Cultural and religious discrimination remains prominent.

Sally Huffer, community project specialist at the Montrose Center in Houston, acknowledged that even though gay marriage equality has become more prominent, there are still missing pieces to the equality puzzle.

“Marriage equality is only one piece of the equality pie, and as allies, we need to stand up for the ones who are beaten down so much that they can’t stand up,” Huffer said.

Those who get beaten down also include minors who are rejected from their families or guardians who are unable to accept them.

Sarah Fernandez, 15-year member of Parents, Families, and Friends of Gay and Lesbian (PFLAG) sees that LGBTQA issues are becoming more common in the media, but stated that one in four children will be homeless before they reach age 18 because of their sexual preferences and/or gender identity.

“In some families, churches and cultures, [coming out] is not accepted. Coming out still matters because there is still a lot of ignorance,” Fernandez said.