Why Gay Marriage (Still) Matters
Fourteen years after my state legalized same-sex marriage, some lawmakers want to turn back the clock.
First, a little history.
As the Library of Congress makes clear, LGBTQ Pride Month is “celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan . . . a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.”
Why was it a tipping point?
Because when police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, its gay patrons fought back, sparking protests that soon led to gay and lesbian activists demanding the right to live openly without fear of being harassed or arrested.
It seems absurd that being gay was essentially criminalized throughout the United States during my lifetime. But it was. And if it weren’t for the hard-won progress made by brave gay and lesbian activists a half-century ago, it might still be today.
The same can be said of same-sex marriage.
Fourteen years ago, on April 3, 2009, I was never prouder of my…
