Every year, thousands of people go to gay pride parades, but I’d venture a guess that very few of those people know that these celebrations of gay culture actually started as protests.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, which were of course repressive time periods for the LGBT community, small groups would demonstrate what were called “annual reminders.” These groups held picket signs in public to remind the community that LGBT people were being denied basic civil rights. Some advocates would also make signs that reminded their neighbors “gay is good,” in response to the widely held notion that homosexuality was a mental illness.

Stonewall, which is widely regarded as the most important turning point in the gay liberation movement of the 1970’s, was a show of solidarity in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the '70’s. The parade was held in the well traveled upper streets of Manhattan, both as a protest and as a reminder that a community that stands together cannot be taken down. Although those who marched have recounted that they were nervous and fearful of what may happen, and didn’t even expect to make it the entire route, to their surprise, hundreds of supporters joined them.

In the following year, a bisexual activist named Brenda Howard organized the Christopher Street Liberation Day in New York, followed by the introduction of pride parades in Chicago and Los Angeles to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

All through the '80’s and '90’s, backlash from conservatives caused many parades to drop words like “liberation” from their titles, and the parades developed into the celebration of gay cultures that is widely celebrated today.

In the 2000’s, former President Bill Clinton and President Obama have declared June as LGBT pride month during their respective terms, due to the original Stonewall riots in June.

However, the years have changed pride parades, the original idea of gay unity and celebration is still there, and continuously reminds the queer community of everything that we have fought for.