In conjunction with WorldPride 2025 the Rainbow History Project is creating an exhibit on the evolution of Pride: “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.”

This is the first in a series of articles that will share the research themes and invite public participation. In “Picking our Battles and Reminding the Nation,” we discuss the period between 1965-1970 and how the Mattachine Society of Washington created an agenda for homosexual rights and freedoms before the Stonewall Riots of 1969.

On April 17, 1965, the Mattachine Society of Washington (MSW) held the nation’s first organized gay rights picket at the White House. Led by Dr. Frank Kameny and Dr. Lilli Vincenz, the 10 picketers demanded action on MSW’s four major issues: the exclusion of homosexuals from federal employment; the punitive policies of the U.S. Military; blanket denial of security clearances to homosexuals; and government refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.

MSW staged several pickets through summer 1965 and countless other pickets during the late 1960s. In January 1966, activist and picketer Eva Freund wrote in The Homosexual Citizen that “these groups include[d] housewives, clergymen, business executives, and laborers.” She also wrote that the public had “mixed feelings of disbelief and confusion” about the pickets. The casual observer was hard-pressed to distinguish the heterosexual from the homosexual picketer,’” she wrote, adding that these conversations included: “‘I don’t understand – how can homosexuals be learned and intelligent?’ and ‘I always thought you could spot a deviant: now I wonder how many of my friends are homosexuals.’”

The July 4, 1965 picket outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia recognized constitutional rights on the anniversary of the country’s creation. Thirty-nine people asserted “an inalienable right; the pursuit of happiness; for homosexuals too,” according to the signs. It was this picket that would become a yearly event called the Annual Reminder.

Vincenz, who died in 2023, filmed the 1968 Annual Reminder. She said that Kameny emphasized respectability and “normality” through their professional dress code and demeanors.

In a 2001 oral history interview with Rainbow History she said: “I felt this had to be recorded, this had to be taped… We did the first film, 16 mm, 1968, called “Second Largest Minority;” seven and a half minutes, black and white, which shows the picket line in front of Independence Hall; an interview with Frank Kameny. A very well-dressed picket line.”

The fifth Annual Reminder took place just days after the Stonewall Riots, in which, fed up with police brutality, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back during a raid of the establishment.

After a week of riots, dozens of additional picketers showed up to the 1969 demonstration, adding their faces and voices to MSW’s demands. By October of 1969, LGBTQ activists from Washington and their partners across the East Coast decided to hold the 1970 Annual Reminder not on Independence Day in Philadelphia, but, rather, in New York City on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The Christopher Street Liberation Day March took place on June 28, 1970. The CSLD March differed greatly from the demonstration policies of the Annual Reminders, according to both Vincenz and Kameny. But there was no doubt in Kameny’s mind that the Reminders laid the groundwork for the Christopher Street Liberation Day marches.

“Most of our actual ‘warm bodies’ for those Fourth of July demonstrations in Philadelphia came down from New York,” Kameny said in a 1991 oral history interview with RHP Archives. “And the whole idea of gays demonstrating became a much more run-of-the-mill sort of thing.”

“My feeling is that there’s a good likelihood that Stonewall wouldn’t have occurred, certainly not when it did, how it did, and the way it did, if we hadn’t been demonstrating here, starting in 65.” 

Our WorldPride 2025 exhibit, “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington,” centers the voices of the event organizers and includes the critics of Pride and the intersection of Pride and other movements for equal rights and liberation. But we need your help to do that: we are looking for images and input, so look around your attic and get involved!

Vincent Slatt volunteers as the director of archiving at the Rainbow History Project. Visit rainbowhistory.org to get involved.

As we celebrate the founding of our country, we must recognize the election on Nov. 5 could dramatically change how our country looks in the future. We can debate whether Joe Biden is the best candidate for Democrats on the ticket, but reality is, whoever the Democratic candidate is, they must defeat Donald Trump. Trump is a racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic pig who was found liable for sexual assault and convicted of 34 felonies. A man who spouts lies every time he opens his mouth. A man who uses Hitler’s words, and said he will be a dictator on his first day in office. A man who said he will seek retribution on any opponent, using the Department of Justice and IRS to do his dirty work. 

Yes, President Joe Biden had a disastrous debate, and many pundits are calling for him to step down as the candidate. They are having a field day doing so, because none of them are involved in the process that would follow. None of them mention the two times in recent history, Democratic presidents chose to not run for a second term, Lyndon Johnson and Harry Truman, a Republican won. This time the Republican alternative is the disgusting, evil, Donald Trump. Even the New York Times editorial board, when calling for Biden to step aside as a candidate, wrote, “If the race comes down to a choice between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, the sitting president would be this board’s unequivocal pick. That is how much of a danger Mr. Trump poses.”

The simple truth is Biden feels he can win, and won’t step aside. The only person who could convince him to do so, is his wife, Jill Biden, and she has shown she will not do that. She reminds me a little of Nancy Reagan, who protected her husband when he had issues with cognition. 

What all Americans need to understand, is no American president makes decisions on their own, without massive consultation with advisers. They don’t meet foreign dignitaries alone, but with advisers. And President Biden has shown he has the most incredible group of advisers around him, maybe with the exception of those who prepared him for this debate. 

I have loads of questions for them. If President Biden had a cold as claimed, why didn’t they tell him to begin his first statement of the debate with an apology to the audience. Something like, “I want to take a moment to apologize to the TV audience on how my voice is today, and how it will sound to you. I have a severe cold and will sound raspier, and slower, but of course feeling a little ill would not keep me from being here today.” It could have changed the tenor of the debate. It would not have excused his poor performance, but may have given people a few thoughts in his favor. Then there was the closing two minutes. How is it possible the president wasn’t coached on ending the debate with the issues he has said he believes will win for Democrats: abortion, climate change, and saving democracy? The debate prep team kept him cloistered for a week; seems they could be sued for malpractice. 

Again, it was a disastrous debate for President Biden. But then rather than what the pundits are saying, grassroots Democrats are responding with money. The Biden campaign reported Saturday that it raised $27 million on Thursday and Friday. The hour after the debate ended was its best grassroots fundraising hour since Biden kicked off his reelection campaign, per the Hill. 

So contrary to the all the pundits, the sky is not falling. Yes, there is a lot more work to do than before the debate. But the focus for all Democrats, and all decent people, must be to ensure we don’t reelect Trump, because of what he would do to our country. How his election would change us. How if he did what he says, and tries to return all decisions on just about everything, to the states, it is not only women who must be scared. It is Blacks, the LGBTQ+ community, every minority; and young people who will live longest with the results of doing nothing to ameliorate climate change. They should all be very scared.

So happy 4^th and here’s to hoping Americans are smart enough to vote correctly, and ensure July 4^, 2025 will be just as happy. 

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

Joe Biden was clearly ready with some facts for this debate, the sad part is he couldn’t articulate them. He sounded raspy, and lost track of what he was saying in the first few minutes of the debate. He did get better as the debate progressed but came off sounding and looking like an old man. For those of us hoping he would sound like he did at the State of the Union, or the speech he gave on anti-Semitism, it was a huge disappointment. 

So, where his campaign goes from here is anyone’s guess. Behind the scenes some Democrats are calling for him to step down as the candidate. But that is much more difficult than it seems at this time. And then, will there be a fight for who the candidate will be. Will it automatically be Kamala Harris, or will it be someone else?  So many unanswered questions over the next couple of weeks.

The only positive take-away for Democrats from the debate was how deranged Donald Trump sounded. He refused to deal with any issue, refused to say he would accept the results of this election, refused to acknowledge climate change, or Jan. 6, and kept saying how the states should control the issue of abortion, and women’s health. Every one of these things should be frightening to so many people. It is clear if Trump is elected, we will have a dictator in the White House, who believes Hitler did good things. His election is scary for women, young people, Black Americans, and the LGBTQ community. If states control issues related to any of these groups, they are screwed. 

One of the very few good lines Biden got across was when he said 40 high-level Trump appointees, members of the Cabinet, and his vice president, have refused to endorse him as they know him best. People need to take their word for how bad he will be should he be reelected. Trump kept talking nonsense and it was hard to keep up with the lies. The moderators didn’t call him on any of it, but CNN has said before the debate they wouldn’t. But then Biden missed so many chances to call him on the garbage he was spouting. I kept hoping he would turn to him and say clearly, “You can’t believe all the BS you are spouting. You sound like a deranged six-year-old and someone who would take our country down the tubes.”

Now I accept the fact Biden speaks more slowly and softly. Though after the debate they said he had a cold. He could have said that at the beginning of the debate, if it was true, and explained his voice to the audience. And while we know he has a stutter, it seemed so much worse during the debate than it normally does. Was it nerves, maybe, but difficult nonetheless for him, and for those listening. We must have compassion for anyone with any kind of a disability. Then one had to ask, was he over-prepared for this debate? Was he so scripted he didn’t dare say anything off script. When he did, they got into this thing about golf handicaps and both sounded so childish. 

Biden did manage to talk about the things he has done, and the successes of his first administration. There have been many. First bringing the country successfully out of the pandemic. He spoke about unemployment being the lowest it has been in decades, and the more than 15 million jobs created since he took office. He was honest about inflation and the fact that not all the economic successes the country is having are trickling down to every American. He understands that rents are high, and grocery bills are still too high. He made clear he wants to raise taxes on the rich and Trump wants to lower them. He had a plan to ensure Social Security would stay solvent, Trump had nothing as usual. 

Finally, I was surprised that in his two-minute closing, Biden didn’t go back to the issues of abortion, climate change, and saving democracy. Did his debate prep team tell him not to? If so, they were wrong. Whether it remains Joe Biden on the ticket, or is someone else, I am 1,000% committed to do everything I can to see Democrats are elected across the board. It is clear to me, and should be to all decent people, electing Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans, will be the end of our country as we know it today. 

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.