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“… Gay people were presumptive criminals, constantly harassed by the police.” “The intimidation of the gay community by the police in the 1950s and through much of the ‘60s was really disgusting,” said Faderman, an LGBTQ historian based in San Diego. Sodomy was illegal in California until 1975, and people who did not conform to what was considered appropriate sexual behavior were often arrested and harassed, according to Lillian Faderman’s “LGBTQ in San Diego: A History of Persecution, Battles, and Triumphs.” “Pride was a riot against legal state-sanctioned police violence long before it was a celebration.” A protest against police harassment (Photos courtesy Lambda Archives) “As the nation rages and mourns in the wake of stolen Black lives, I can’t help but reflect on our shared experiences,” Fernando Zweifach López, executive director of San Diego Pride, wrote in a Jwebsite post. Local organizations have expressed similar statements of solidarity and intersectionality.
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Pride began not as a colorful parade but as a violent protest against police brutality. Current Black activists are echoing the demands of the original Black activists who advanced the LGBTQ rights movements just over 50 years ago. From the initial riot that inspired June’s Pride month parades to the protests supporting Black Lives Matter, both had the same goal: ending the police brutality of a marginalized community.