Pride didn’t begin as a parade. It began as a protest.
The first Pride march emerged in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, in which a group of LGBTQ+ protesters fought back against police brutality and systemic oppression targeting queer and trans people, especially Black and brown trans women.
While there were many uprisings against police and state violence in the years before Stonewall, the six-day confrontation between LGBTQ+ protests and police at the Stonewall Inn has come to represent a catalyst in LGBTQ+ activism in the United States and a commemoration for the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
Black and brown trans women – such as Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman from New Jersey – led the Stonewall Uprising and have always been at the heart of queer resistance. Yet they are also the most likely to be excluded from mainstream Pride celebrations, and the most vulnerable to violence, incarceration, and discrimination. Queer liberation means liberation for all, especially those who face the most marginalization.
The legacy of Stonewall remains urgent today. More than 50 years later, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are surging across the country. The ACLU of New Jersey is working to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming people can live with dignity and free from discrimination, harassment, or violence.
After joining a successful fight against forced outing policies in schools, we’re currently monitoring school districts across New Jersey that have revoked policies safeguarding the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth and urging them to readopt these policies.
Attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are a deliberate effort to erase queer and trans people from public consciousness and a threat to the safety of our communities. It’s as important now as ever before that we continue to fight back, speak up, and boldly declare that we all have the freedom to be.
Queer joy is an act of resistance. That’s why this year, in honor of Pride Month, we’re celebrating queer resistance all throughout the month of June. Check out our Pride events below:
- ACLU-NJ at Jersey Pride
- June 1, 2025 @ 12:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Asbury Park, NJ
- ACLU-NJ at North Jersey Pride
- June 8, 2025 @ 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Maplewood, NJ
- Pride Is Still Protest: Dance Party to Celebrate 65 Years of the ACLU-NJ
- June 12, 2025 @ 7:00 pm – @ 10:00 PM, Montclair, NJ
- ACLU-NJ at Montclair Pride
- June 14, 2025 @ 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Montclair, NJ
We hope you’ll join us for these celebrations filled with joy as we uplift the LGBTQ+ community, the freedom to be who you are, and the power to love who you love.
