Page 442 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

While the proposal for a march was approved, it was grassroots activist Brenda
Howard who got it planned.

Born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, the openly bisexual Howard was

active in the anti-war and feminist movements during the turbulent ‘60s.

She wasn’t afraid to make a statement, and she was known for her campaigning
and organizing.

Meeting in Craig Rodwell’s apartment and bookstore (the Oscar Wilde Bookshop

on Christopher Street), the details for the first NYC Pride Parade, then known as
the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, were hashed out.

Making use of the Oscar Wilde mailing list, they were able to get the word out. It

was also Howard’s idea to turn the festivities into a week-long celebration,
something many cities continue to do to this day.

L. Craig Schoonmaker was part of the Christopher Street Liberation Day March

planning committee. When they were looking for a slogan for the event, it was
Schoonmaker that suggested “Pride.”

The idea of “Gay Power” was thrown around, but Schoonmaker said gay

individuals lacked real power to make change, but one thing they did have was
pride.

In a 2015 interview with “The Allusionist,” Schoonmaker explained, “A lot of

people were very repressed, they were conflicted internally, and didn’t know how
to come out and be proud.

That’s how the movement was most useful, because they thought, ‘Maybe I

should be proud.’” The official chant for the march became, “Say it loud, gay is
proud.”

All their efforts came to fruition on June 28, 1970, the one-year anniversary of the
Stonewall Riots.