by Evelyn Bailey
What was our history 40 yrs. Ago? What was the significant event of June, 1971?
June 18 – 27 Gay Pride Week in New York City; 10 days of plays, movies, workshops, dances, suppers, and marches.
Thursday, June 24 – Candlelight march to City Hall in support of City council bill for Fair employment for gay men and women.
Saturday, June 26 – Workshops all day at Public School #41; Street Fair in front of Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse (name of new community center); Street Dancing; 7 PM Potluck supper at the Firehouse; Evening – Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis Dance
Sunday, June 27 – New York City – Christopher Street Gay Liberation March to commemorate the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement in June, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher St. in Greenwich Village; Noon – 2PM Parade formed on Christopher St. west of Sheridan Square; 2 PM March proceeded along Christopher St., past Sheridan Square, past Stonewall Inn to Sixth Avenue. Then the march turned north for fifty to sixty blocks to Central Park; 5 PM Marchers assembled in Central Park in Sheep Meadow for a picnic lunch and love-in.
About 20 Rochester people and some Buffalo people marched under the Rochester banner. (From the Empty Closet No. 5 June 29, 1971)