At the forefront of these protests, were Black and brown trans people, including Martha P. Their raid sparked a violent uprising and the catalyzing moment of the gay liberation movement. On the night of June 27, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular bar for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers. “They have feared feared us, they have our sexuality, but they have always feared our gathering.The collective anger and anguish following the murders of Tony McDade, Riah Milton, and Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells-the latest media-reported deaths in the epidemic facing the Black trans community-have sparked a return to the radical roots of the gay liberation movement, particularly the Stonewall Riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising. The mayor then, the mayor now,” continued Monteiro. There were queers in this town that were strong enough that in the face of the police, they continued… They took their case all the way to the Rhode Island Supreme Court – and lost. After Zanzibar the police turned their attention to a club called The Holiday Inn.
Zanzibar did not go quietly, they sued to remain open as a place where gay men and women could meet, but unfortunately lost that lawsuit. LGBTQ+ historian Kate Monteiro talked about the history of Woonsocket before Stonewall, where in 1960 Woonsocket police began harassing and arresting patrons of a bar called Zanzibar. “So now it’s a protest!” said Kithes to the crowd, made up of supporters from all over Rhode Island. During her tenure at the Rhode Island General Assembly Baldelli-Hunt infamously voted against marriage equality, which passed in Rhode Island two years before the United States Supreme Court ruled LGBTQ+ marriage a constitutional right nationwide. Woonsocket Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, said Kithes, “had the police call me to basically push us off from having the event.” Baldelli-Hunt was formerly a state representative representing District 49 in Woonsocket who resigned in 2013 to run for Mayor. It was a protest made all that much more pointed for happening on June 28, 52 years after the Stonewall Uprising in New York, the event that jumpstarted the modern LGBTQ+ movement and the reason we celebrate Pride in the month of June.įormer Woonsocket City Councilmember Alex Kithes, a cofounder of Rebuild Woonsocket, explained the last minute obstruction by city officials who seemed to be acting to shut down the celebration. Starting at River Island Park, the march of about 100 people made its way past the classic car show and through the streets of Woonsocket, ending at a small stage at the World War II Memorial Park. When the event moved to World War II Memorial Park and incorporated a protest march, Woonsocket Police attempted to warn organizers off. When organizers attempted to move the event to Market Square city officials revealed the existence of a classic car show at that location. Officials denied a park permit to hold the event at River Island Park because of construction – that was not happening. The first annual Woonsocket Pride event was initially going to be a small celebration at River Island Park, but as Woonsocket city officials pushed back against the event the celebration morphed into a protest march.