INSIDE THIS EDITION:
- JUNE IS NATIONAL PRIDE MONTH
- From the Memoir Class: THOUGHT CLUTTER by Noreen Berthiaume
- Vivek Murthy on HOW TO MAKE OUR WORLD A LITTLE LESS LONELY
- SHAME, SHAME, SHAME – A poem by LLC member Allan Klepper
June is National Pride Month
FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969 that took place over several days beginning on June 28, 1969. The riots began after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located within Lower Manhattan in New York City. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as "Gay Pride Day," but the actual day was flexible.
In major cities across the nation the "day" soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, and LGBTQ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.
Recognition
In 1994, a coalition of education-based organizations in the United States designated October as LGBT History Month. In 1995, a resolution passed by the General Assembly of the National Education Association included LGBT History Month within a list of commemorative months. National Coming Out Day (October 11), as well as the first "March on Washington" in 1979, are commemorated in the LGBTQ community during LGBT History Month.
In June 1999, US President Bill Clinton declared "the anniversary of [the] Stonewall [riots] every June in America as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month" In 2011, President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include the whole of the LGBT community. In 2017, however, Donald Trump declined to continue the federal recognition of Pride Month in the United States, though he later recognized it in 2019 in a Tweet later used as a Presidential Proclamation. After taking office in 2021, Joe Biden recognized Pride Month and vowed to push for LGBT rights in the United States, despite previously voting against same-sex marriage and school education of LGBT topics in the Senate (Wikipedia, “Pride Month”).
In addition, Pride Month is often observed in several LGBT-affirming religious congregations.
Annual LGBTQ+ Pride Traditions
The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Primary sources available at the Library of Congress provide detailed information about how this first Pride march was planned and the reasons why activists felt so strongly that it should exist.
Looking through the Lili Vincenz and Frank Kameny Papers in the Library’s Manuscript Division, researchers can find planning documents, correspondence, flyers, ephemera and more from the first Pride marches in 1970. This, the first U.S. Gay Pride Week and March, was meant to give the community a chance to gather together to "...commemorate the Christopher Street Uprisings of last summer in which thousands of homosexuals went to the streets to demonstrate against centuries of abuse ... from government hostility to employment and housing discrimination, Mafia control of Gay bars, and anti-Homosexual laws" (Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee Fliers, Franklin Kameny Papers).
The concept behind the initial Pride march came from members of the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO), who had been organizing an annual July 4th demonstration (1965-1969) known as the "Reminder Day Pickets," at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. At the ERCHO Conference in November 1969, the 13 homophile organizations in attendance voted to pass a resolution to organize a national annual demonstration, to be called Christopher Street Liberation Day.
As members of the Mattachine Society of Washington, Frank Kameny and Lilli Vincenz participated in the discussion, planning, and promotion of the first Pride along with activists in New York City and other homophile groups belonging to ERCHO.
By all estimates, there were three to five thousand marchers at the inaugural Pride in New York City, and today marchers in New York City number in the millions. Since 1970, LGBTQ+ people have continued to gather together in June to march with Pride and demonstrate for equal rights.
FROM THE MEMOIR CLASS
Thought Clutter
by Noreen Berthiaume
It’s 5 a.m. I’m jolted awake by a pounding headache. The lovely dream I was having about waterfalls is quickly fading away. I hear the sound of water dripping, sounds like rain, which would explain the onset of the barometric pressure headache keeping me awake. I decide to get up to take my half Excedrin, which usually helps to beat the headache down to a whimper and lets me go back to sleep. As I tiptoe to the bedroom door and try to hop over the screen we use as a barricade to keep my 14 year old cat from attempting to jump on and off the bed, I catch my big toe on the edge of the screen. The thought clutter begins! “Ouch, that’s gonna leave a black and blue mark. Damn that was loud!” More thought clutter crashes in my head “why is it so dark?” “it’s cold.” and “OMG, the cat!” Quincy, my black cat, has stealthily maneuvered himself at my feet, looking like a blob in the dark. As I trip over him, he starts meowing at me and scatters to a safe distance. I can see his shiny eyes though. “Is he glaring at me?” I shush him, which anyone who has had a feline fur baby knows just makes them louder! I also see that the pellet stove is off, which explains the darkness and the very cold floor on my bare feet.
I’m still desperately trying to hold on to that early morning, drowsy, mindset so I can go back to sleep. The distance to the kitchen counter from the bedroom door is only about 12 feet, one straight path. I notice that the shadow cat has gotten a little closer and is just sitting, watching me. I quietly trudge to the kitchen for my much needed Excedrin. And, step in something wet, cold, and slippery. Quincy has left me his disapproving thoughts on last night’s dinner. My thought clutter is now littered with very bad words!
After a not so quick cleanup of disgusting, cold, slimy stuff and equally slimed foot, I’m wide awake. I grab my Excedrin, gulp down some water, and head back to the bedroom, hop over the screen quietly (and I do consider this exercise), and roll back into bed.
The thought clutter begins again, what I jokingly refer to as my “pinball brain.” My first thought is “it’s almost time to get up. What do I have to do later?” followed by “Is that a plane? It’s early for a plane.” And I ponder where they’re going. Then, “What’s that noise? Oh, just the cat jumping off the chair.”
I’ve read about meditating, a skill I haven’t yet been able to conquer, but decide that this would be a good time to try it again. It’s early, quiet, and still dark. One book suggested using a word to focus on and then gently push the intruding thoughts away. I think I can do that! My word is “epiphany” and after trying to focus on it by repeating it gently for a very short while, I start to analyze it. I start thinking how I love that it begins and ends with the sound of “e”. I love how it isn’t a “smack you in the face” word, but a gently flowing 4-syllable word with an upward arch like a raised eyebrow! E PIF an e!! I’m now playing around with vocalizing it in my mind! Then, I hear the words “stop it” “just focus and let it be.” “Wait! That rhymes! Let it be! Me and my epiphany.” OK. Enough playing! Focus!! I try, but the cat is scratching at the screen, so my mind zips over to the door, sending vibes for him to go away, it’s too early. Back to “epiphany!” Oh, is the alarm going to go off soon? I should just shut it off.” No! “Epiphany.” “Epiphany.”
I’ve read that men put their thoughts in boxes in their heads. They also have a “nothing” box, one they go to just to “be” with no thoughts. I’m jealous. I really need a “nothing” box right now.
As I lie there quietly trying to focus on my word, more unwanted cluttering thoughts keep blasting through, pinging at my mind like a pinball. I’ve tried to gently swish them away, but now I want to kick those thought clutter butts out of my head. Then, ping, another thought comes, “Wait, where did I hear that?” “Oh, that’s Lorraine with her banana butts,” which makes me smile.
I check the clock. It’s 6:30 a.m. I try again to focus by taking deep breathes. “Epiphany.” Where are you “Epiphany?” My little word “epiphany” is crouched in a dark corner of my mind, pouting because I haven’t been able to focus on it for more than a minute, maybe! The last pinging thought clutter? Coffee! Coffee is calling to me!
RECOMMENDED BY OUR MEMBERS
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on How to Make Our World a Little Less Lonely
Dr. Murthy has issued a Surgeon General’s Advisory warning about the threat of the loneliness epidemic.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned about the growing problem of loneliness for years. Even before the pandemic separated us from our loved ones, Dr. Murthy viewed our growing sense of isolation as a grave public health threat — on par with smoking or substance abuse.
He has famously compared a lonely life to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, in that both have been shown to drastically reduce your lifespan. And that’s not all: Loneliness has been linked to depression, suicide, heart disease, and dementia, Dr. Murthy tells Katie in a new interview. Across his two stints as Surgeon General, he’s written extensively about the loneliness epidemic and how we can begin to heal, including in his 2020 book Together and in a new op-ed for the New York Times. But today, he’s going a step further by issuing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the topic, along with a national strategy to help more of us feel more connected.
“I’m asking people to recognize that our disconnection from one another is one of the most important foundational issues we are dealing with in society today,” Dr. Murthy says.
Katie spoke to Dr. Murthy about how we can fix our country’s loneliness problem, the role technology plays in making our world feel more desolate than ever, and some simple tips to feel less isolated.
The Surgeon General: Why It’s Time To Fix Our Country’s Loneliness Problem
Shame, Shame, Shame
(Comment re standoff on raising debt limit)
by Allan Klepper
I am feeling a fight on debt ceiling;
All political hot air.
It’s dismaying; this not paying
For debts voted to bear.
Their muscles flex, give Budget hex,
To show the GOP can
Have their way, win the day,
Stick it to the Man!
Attitude abrupt, process disrupt
Will go to any length…
Pols are inept, not adept
At maintaining fiscal strength.
It’s really sad, they all look bad,
Gives Congress a big black eye.
Makes people think all Governments stink;
Integrity’s gone bye bye!