June is Pride Month, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in Philadelphia and beyond. The Stonewall Uprising, considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the United States, occurred on June 28, 1969. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ+ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots. Most importantly the anthology spotlights both iconic activists who were pivotal in the movement, such as Sylvia Rivera, co-founder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), as well as forgotten figures like Ernestine Eckstein, one of the few out, African American, lesbian activists in the 1960s. The anthology focuses on the events of 1969, the five years before, and the five years after.
Penn’s Village members met to celebrate Pride Month with this Lunch and Books event. As always, no need to have had read the book - everyone came ready to discuss whether they read it or not and enjoyed good conversation with other members and friends.
This was an in-person event at Positano Coast, 212 Walnut St., which is handicapped-accessible.