On Sunday, hundreds in New York City took part in community-led demonstrations to celebrate Pride after all in-person events were cancelled. By 4:30pm, police attempted to break up protestors and pepper sprayed a crowd near Washington Square Park.
This year marked the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a series of monumental events in which trans, gay and gender non-conforming people fought back against NYPD officers. The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar that operated illegally and was run by the mafia who made deals with law enforcement to stay open.
Yesterday, NYPD officers pushed, pepper sprayed and arrested people at the Queer Liberation March just a few blocks from the historic monument. Videos surfaced online that appear to show confrontations between protestors and police that turned violent for no clear reason. The demonstration had started out as a peaceful gathering in Foley Square and progressed towards the West Village.
The NYC #QueerLiberationMarch has been marching through the streets all day. Then the NYPD randomly started assaulting people.
— Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) June 28, 2020
Outside Stonewall. pic.twitter.com/YePTvk05qm
— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 28, 2020
Several on social media have drawn parallels between yesterday’s events and Stonewall riots of 1969. Stonewall was an active resistance to police that lasted six days and birthed the modern LGBTQ+ movement as well as annual parades worldwide. New York City holds one of the largest and most well-known parades in the world, which had an estimated 4.5 million attendance in 2019.
Sunday’s events brought a stark contrast to Pride parades of previous years, in which the NYPD has had a heavy presence and guarded the parade’s path. Some have pointed out that police protection was contingent on corporate agreements and not the queer people they were purported to protect.
