Pacific Pride Foundation Celebrates Stonewall 50 by Taking LGBTQ+ Youth to World Pride in New York City

Photo: PPF Facebook

Source: Pacific Pride Foundation

Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF), providing programs and services to more than 10,000 people in Santa Barbara County, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and National Pride Month by taking eight LGBTQ+ Youth Advocate Leaders to New York City for World Pride.

Eight members of PPF’s PROUD Youth Group Youth Advocate Leaders, who run the (90) Days of Summer youth program for their peers, were qualified to travel with PPF staff and volunteers to World Pride in New York City during the last week of June.

On the work service trip, youth will volunteer at Youth Pride (the section of the New York City Pride Festival dedicated to youth), march in the New York City Pride Parade, and visit the Stonewall Inn. They will meet a member of the community who was a part of the famous uprising, and have a chance to ask questions about what it was like to be a part of such a significant moment in history.

This year’s National Pride Month is especially important to the LGBTQ+ community, because this summer marks fifty years since the uprising at the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ+ bar. A police raid in the early morning of June 28th, 1969 at the Inn – typical at LGBT bars in the 1960s – made history when patrons fought back. After police arrested many Stonewall patrons, people protested outside the bar for weeks afterward, leading to the first march for gay and lesbian rights in July 1969. This kicked off what many agree to be a beginning to the modern LGBTQ+ equality movement that we are familiar with today.

“This is such a rare and wonderful opportunity for our youth to learn, reflect on, and celebrate those that came before them and the history behind the LGBTQ+ community that they are a part of today,” said Colette Schabram, Executive Director of Pacific Pride Foundation. “We are so grateful to our donors and community members who are helping us make this trip a reality.”

For more information, or to donate, visit HERE.