WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia is historically recognized, and continues to be recognized, as one the most LGTBQ-friendly cities in the United States, with more than 60,000 residents of Philadelphia identifying as LGTBQ+; and
WHEREAS, Efforts to eliminate prejudice towards the LGBTQ+ community began in Philadelphia as early as the 1930s, through Quaker organizations; and
WHEREAS, The Janus Society, one of the first documented LGBTQ+ organizations, formed in Philadelphia in 1962. It helped facilitate landmark peaceful protests, from May 1965 to June 1965, against Dewey’s restaurant for discrimination. Now known as the “Dewey’s Sit-In,” the protests were an early predecessor to larger organized demonstrations elsewhere in the country; and
WHEREAS, The first major LGBT civil rights demonstration was held on July 4, 1965, at Independence Hall and was repeated as an “Annual Reminder” for the next four years, to remind American people that LGBTQ+ residents were being denied the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”; and
WHEREAS, Philadelphia has been home to a number of nationally recognized leaders in the LGBTQ+ community, including Barbara Gittings. Barbara Gittings is widely considered the mother of the LGTBQ civil rights movement. She edited
The Ladder
, the first widespread lesbian journal, and led initiatives to promote positive LGBT literature in libraries. She also successfully advocated for the end of homosexuality’s classification as a psychiatric disorder; and
WHEREAS, In 1982, Philadelphia became one of the first cities to pass an ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation; and
WHEREAS, Under Gloria Casarez’s tenure as the first director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, which began in 2008, Philadelphia adopted the broadest LGBTQ+ rights protections in the nation; and
WHEREAS, As part of Pride Month in 2017, the City of Philadelphia added two stripes, one black and one brown, to the existing pride flag to represent inclusion of people of color in the LGBTQ+ community; and
WHEREAS, June 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, an historic landmark in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights; and
WHEREAS, The Philly Pride Parade will take place on Sunday, June 9th, with over 150 organizations participating, Philadelphia’s largest Pride celebration yet; and
WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia continues to push towards a more diverse and inclusive city for all residents, and we celebrate the diversity and history of our vibrant LGBTQ+ community; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Recognizes June as the LGBTQ Pride Month in Philadelphia.
End