This week I have three things to write about which are sort of all linked together in the greater scheme of things.

First off I would like to congratulate our American brothers and sisters on their momentous win in hopefully what will be sweeping change towards marriage equality in the USA. Yes, I know that this is a little late considering this was almost two weeks ago but I have always said better late than never J.

This is not only great news but could not have better timing since it was Pride month for most North Americans. As I read the news (I was at work and constantly going back and forth to check for updates) I cried at my desk while desperately trying to hide it from my colleagues. Though they were tears of joy, I still should not have been reading the news while serving customers (but that will be our little secret). I know that the decision to strike down Prop 8 and DOMA would not directly affect me and anyone I know here in Canada but it will have a huge ripple effect on LGBTQ rights across the world, as well as help stop prejudices and homophobia. Living in Montreal we sometimes take our freedoms for granted and do not realize that we have it pretty good here. I mean, it is not perfect and there still is homophobia and anti-LGBTQ sentiments, however we are generally in better shape than the USA. Does this mean the fight is over – far from it, it is a big step in the right direction.

Here in Montreal we know that we celebrate our Pride separately from the rest of N.A. However not a lot of us know why. I started to explain this past Wednesday but I myself was not very clear on the details so I decided to do a little research.

Back in the 1960’s police often raided bars that were known to be hotspots for gay men. The bars themselves were not necessarily gay but they were more welcoming than others. This one place in New York’s Greenwich Village known as the Stonewall Inn was one of those places. It was owned by the mafia and had many types of customers that were not just gay.

On June 28h 1969 the police raided the bar and was arresting gay men just for being gay – or assumed gay. This time however the men started fighting back against the police officers and there was a riot. A riot that turned into the beginnings of the Gay rights movement. It had such an effect that they planned a few more protests and even organized the first Gay Pride Parade the next year on the anniversary of the Stonewall raid. There were three parades – one in L.A., Chicago and in New York City. We have come a long way since then!
You can read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots

Montreal had a similar situation happen in 1990 on July 15^th when a party at a club was raided and the police violently arrested and beat gays, lesbians and transgendered party goers.  There are several reasons why we have our Pride in the middle of August but the main reason is because the Pride Parades that takes place in other cities around North America coincide with Quebec’s St-Jean-de-Bapiste.