The further we get away from summer, and from celebrating Pride in June, the more important it feels to shout it from the rooftops: “Pride is all year round!” And it is. At Christopher Street Tours, we celebrate Pride every day. As much as we love all the Pride parades and the rainbow flags, there is queer history to celebrate every day, and some of our favorite stories are the ones we don’t get to tell on tour, or the ones that didn’t make it into the history books. So, as summer winds down and we head into the fall tour season, here are a few pieces of September queer history that we think are worth knowing.
The Daughters of Bilitis Open a New York Chapter (September 1958)
The Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian rights organization in the country, opened its New York chapter in September 1958, founded by Barbara Gittings and Marion Glass. The organization was first created in 1955 in San Francisco. Their goal was to advocate for the inclusion of and respect for lesbians.
The Newspaper That Predates Stonewall (September 1967)
Two years before the riots at the Stonewall Inn, a small Los Angeles paper called The Advocate printed its first issue. It was sold for 25 cents in gay bars all across Los Angeles. Today, it is considered the oldest and largest LGBTQ+ publication in the United States and the only surviving one of its kind that was founded before the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
A Minister Comes Out at a Church Conference (September 5, 1969)
In 1969, Unitarian Universalist minister James Stoll stood up at a religious conference in Colorado and came out to the audience. He is considered the first ordained minister of an established religious denomination to come out as gay. The following year, the Unitarian Universalist Association passed the first-ever gay rights resolution by a religious denomination.
New York Gets Its First Post-Stonewall Newspaper (September 15, 1969)
Gay Power hit newsstands just months after the Stonewall Uprising, becoming one of the first publications to emerge directly from the post-Stonewall movement. Its psychedelic covers featured work from a young Robert Mapplethorpe and illustrations from Tom of Finland, and its pages carried news from every corner of the era’s gay political spectrum.
The Lesbian Avengers’ First Action Happens in Queens (September 9, 1992)
Long before “direct action” was a familiar phrase, the newly formed Lesbian Avengers staged their first public demonstration in Queens, defending an elementary school curriculum that dared to include books about families with same-sex parents. At the demonstration, they wore t-shirts that read, “I was lesbian child.” The group would go on to form chapters around the world, focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility.
Saying Goodbye to Edie Windsor (September 12, 2017)
You can’t tell the story of marriage equality without Edie Windsor, whose Supreme Court case struck down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013. After living an award-winning life, building a legacy of love and activism, she died at the age of 88.
We love finding queer history in the big moments and the small moments. While some of these September dates may have gotten some attention at the time, many didn’t, and aren’t as actively remembered today. Every month holds an expansive list of historic LGBTQ+ moments, and we’re happy to honor just a few this September. If you’ve got out-of-town friends visiting this fall, or you just want to see your own neighborhood differently, we’d love to show you around.
See you on the street! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
