It was only when Craig and Michael Brown, who’d arranged for those first permits, decided that each group would have one representative was the matter finally settled. One of the largest hurdles was which group would have the honor of heading the march.
New York Mattachine was the sole holdout.Īfter months of planning and internal controversy, the Christopher Street Liberation Day Umbrella Committee negotiated with more than a dozen very different gay organizations. Two women, Ellen Broidy and Linda Rhodes, were instrumental in getting a resolution for that first march passed. In the fall of 1969, the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations met in Philadelphia. “Getting everyone together for the Stonewall anniversary march proved to be a challenge. All ages, sizes, and colors walking and marching side by side together for our rights.Ī first person account as told by Fred Sargeant Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered. That would begin to happen in the next two years. This is when the Pride Parade had no floats, no go-go boys, and topless Dykes on Bikes.
