It is hard to imagine police raids of LGBT QI bars in countries like the United States today, but 47 years ago – when the acronym was still unheard of – it is precisely what catalysed the movement for sexual and gender liberation. What we know today as “Pride” was born out of riots ignited on June 28, 1969 after the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a rare underground space where gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people could dance and mingle in New York City.

An often forgotten yet important historical detail is that, based on multiple testimonies, a black transgender woman named Marsha P. Johnson was the one who “really started it.” Similarly, the Puerto Rican transgender activist Sylvia Rivera saidthat the uprising that birthed the contemporary LGBTQI movement was in fact “started by the street queens of that era.”

Stonewall's Legacy: Beyond Pride and Towards LGBT Liberation

While transgender women of color have been at the forefront of the struggle, literally often being the ones receiving the hits and punches, their legacy is often erased during the annual commemoration of the Stonewall uprising, now celebrated as "Gay Pride."

It has become a common assumption that where homosexuality can be freely practiced and marriage equality is legal, LGBT liberation has been achieved. Yet the the kind of acceptance and victories gained by gay and lesbian people today has historically come at the expense of excluding the "T" from its acronym and neglecting LGBTQI people subjected to racism and poverty.