Column: The gay rights movement has grown into actions that stand for pride and equality

In the early morning of June 28,1969, the police raided The Stonewall Inn, the center of New York City’s LGBTQIA community, like police had been doing to other gay bars. The difference this time is the LGBTQIA community fought back. They fought back not just that night but for several nights and the modern LGBTQIA rights movement was born, thanks to the brave members of the LGBTQIA community who participated in the Stonewall Riots.

The Stonewall Riots were memorialized the following June 28 with the first Pride Marches in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. These historic marches were the first time that the LGBTQIA communities — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual — came out in numbers never seen before.

The following year Pride Marches would go international. Hawaii would not have its first Pride Parade until 1990. June is intentionally recognized as Pride month with Pride marches, parades and celebrations being held all around the world. Kauai will be having its first Pride Parade this Saturday after years of other celebrations.

This June also marks the 18th anniversary of the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. When the Caucus was founded, Hawaii’s LGBTQIA+ community was still dealing with the passage of the 1998 constitutional amendment allowing the state Legislature to define marriage between a man and a woman, which they did. Nationally anti-sodomy laws were still on the books in 13 states, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) and the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) were the law of the land, no state had banned conversion therapy, and marriage equality was only a dream.

Since 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned anti-sodomy laws and made marriage equality a reality, 18 states have banned conversion therapy (Hawaii was the 12th state), DADT and DOMA are history — and locally, we have expanded protected classes to include gender identity and gender expression.

This year Hawaii’s LGBTQIA+ community had our most successful legislative session to date. There are three LGBTQIA+ specific bills sitting on Gov. David Ige’s desk, which we are hopeful that he will sign into law. House Bill 664 clarifies the language of the 2018 conversion therapy ban; HB 711 bans gay and trans panic as an affirmative defense (making Hawaii the fifth state); and HB 1165 expands gender markers for driver’s licenses and state IDs (making Hawaii the 10th state).

And marriage equality came to Asia when Taiwan’s government passed legislation last month.

There is more work to be done to ensure justice and equality is a reality for all. The LGBTQIA+ community accounts for 10% of the population, but LGBTQIA+ youth account for 40% of our homeless unaccompanied minors and their suicide rates are three to four times higher than their straight/cisgender counter parts. Hawaii doesn’t even have a homeless shelter for unaccompanied minors.

The federal government has banned members of the transgender community from serving in the military. The LGBTQIA+ community is overrepresented in the prison system. 2018 was another deadly year for the transgender community, especially for people of color. In 26 states it’s legal to fire someone for being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. In 11 countries, being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community is punishable by death.

Pride was not founded out of need to celebrate being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, but our right to exist without percussion and discrimination. Yes, we have come a long way and we have marches, parades, and celebrations of all different shapes and sizes. But at the heart of Pride will always be the Stonewall Riots, and we need to remember and honor that as we celebrate Pride this June, and beyond.

Michael Golojuch, Jr. chairs the LGBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and is former chairman of Honolulu Pride (2010-2014).