Monday Mini: Pride and Coming Out Day

As we mark Atlanta Pride and Coming Out Day, SMNTY digs into some history, impact, and why it matters more than ever.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and Samantha.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm welcome to stuff I never told you production of
iHeartRadio and welcome to a Monday MANI today is October sixteenth,
twenty twenty five, and this one's late. Sometimes we do

(00:28):
one that's late, but I was interested in learning more
about about it, so I thought, you know what, let's
look into it late than never. Yeah, better late than never.
So Atlanta Pride was this last weekend as we record
October eleventh through twelfth, with the theme of Rooted in
Resistance and so. Atlanta Pride was established in nineteen seventy,

(00:51):
making this it's fifty fifth year. Up until two thousand
and eight, it was held in June to coincide with
National Pride Month, but it moved to match up with
National Coming Out Day and October in part because the
weather in Atlanta in June is no joke, it's very hot.
October is much more pleasant. Nowadays. It attracts about three

(01:14):
hundred thousand attendees every year, and in fact, if you
are a listener who tunes in often, you'll know. I
recently had my mom. I've been trying to meet up
with her. She was going to meet up with me
that weekend and I said, nope, the traffic will be horrendous.
And I was correct. The traffic was horrendous because I

(01:34):
live near where it's held, which is nice for walking
but terrible for driving and parking. The story goes that
Atlanta Pride came about after the police raided an Annsley
Mall movie theater showing that Andy Warhol film The Lonesome Cowboys,
and they rated it because it was quote provocative. It
was a home eerotic comedy. That's that's how it was

(01:58):
described at the time. I haven't seen it, so I
can't say, but that's how it was described. It featured
a scene where two cowboylike men kissed. This was in
nineteen sixty nine, and it was kind of a big
deal that it was showing in Atlanta. Like I read
a lot of quotes about it, and people who were
there at the time were so, like, this is a
movie that's only showing in New York and now it's

(02:19):
in Atlanta. You know, that kind of thing. But that
meant that it was big enough that the showing drew
anti gay protesters. Within fifteen minutes of the film start,
the police began their raid and they claimed they were
there to find gay people and the audience and uphold
obscenity laws, and to do this they frisked the men

(02:43):
against the wall. And for some this was a real
wake up call. I think that Atlanta is an interesting city,
not that it's entirely unique, but a lot of people thought,
like Atlanta was so progressive, they're showing this movie. It's
just a movie, and then this happened, and it was
just really clear that there was a lot of backlash

(03:03):
still to this progress and it was a time when
conservative communities were pushing back against the gay community. Atlanta
was fairly progressive in some ways, but yeah, there was
still a lot of pushback, and this was a real
I mean, we've talked about this before. This was a
time of a lot of ideas changing and people fighting

(03:26):
against them if they didn't like them. The gay community
was fighting to be seen in a part of the conversation,
and so in nineteen seventy one they held their first
parade with over one hundred marchers, and they were determined
to be seen and heard. The fight is ongoing as
we jump ahead. In two thousand and nine, the gay

(03:47):
bar The Eagle was rated by police all the patrons
were ordered to lay on the ground as police ran
their IDs. The owner of the bar and a few
other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the city. They, alongside
the Southern Center for Human Rights representing black folks who
had experienced similar things, settled for about one point five

(04:08):
million dollars. The city apologized, and the APD instituted LGBTQ
plus sensitivity trading. Obviously, while there has been a lot
of progress with what we're seeing right now, with a
lot of rollback, we have to keep fighting. Also of note,
Atlanta Black Pride got started in nineteen ninety six. It

(04:30):
takes place the week leading up to Labor Day. About
one hundred thousand people attend, making it the largest Black
gay Pride celebration in the world, and Raquel Willis has
been one of the marshals of it. Our good friend
the show. Yes, So that's sort of Atlanta Pride in
a nutshell. But I originally was looking into the history

(04:54):
of National Coming Out Day. So National Coming Out Day
was first founded in October nineteen eighty eight in response
to the AIDS epidemic and the anti gay Reagan administration
at the time. A lot of people were in what
is called the glass closet, which is sort of out
but not officially out. People were getting outed when dying

(05:16):
of AIDS, and that's how family members were finding out,
and oftentimes they weren't accepting about it, even though someone
was on their deathbed. Author, editor and advocate Gene O'Leary
pushed for gay rights through litigation and really made a
lot of progress with the Carter administration and not just
around gay rights, but gay rights. But then Reagan was

(05:38):
elected and a lot of that ground got lost. On
October eleventh, nineteen eighty seven, O'Leary marched on Washington with
around two hundred thousand others demanding gay rights and funding
for AIDS on the anniversary of the March of the
following year. O'Leary wanted to come up with something to
showcase that people knew gay people and that they weren't

(06:00):
just the caricature created by conservatives, like they weren't just
in San Francisco at these marches, you know they're your neighbors, right.
So O'Leary, along with doctor Robert Eichberg and some others,
came up with the idea of a day where everyone
came out together. Some people thought it would never work,
but they went along with it anyway, putting together resources

(06:23):
to help people if they were nervous about it, how
to do it. All of that and people did it.
It was a really emotional time for a lot of folks.
The message of the campaign which did highlight what was
going on with AIDS, and you can still find the
video hammered home the message coming out is a political
act of courage. In recent years, some have questioned whether

(06:47):
this day is still important, but many argue that it
still is. It is still scary for a lot of
people to come out, even though embracing that identity is
something to celebrate. Some who came out on that day
remember them of it like it's a significant day every
year for them, how meaningful it was, and how younger
folks might experience the same thing. I read a lot

(07:08):
of parents thinking about their children having this day. And
here's a quote from Kyle Gomez in parade. When is
National Coming Out Day twenty twenty five and what does
it mean for members of the LGBTQ plus community. Quote? Truthfully,
coming out never ends. There will always be new coworkers, teachers,

(07:29):
and friends that you tell while in the back of
your mind you wonder if this news will change their
opinion of you. It shouldn't and it more than likely won't,
but it does serve as a reminder of why we
recognize this day every year, and speaking of ACE week
is October nineteenth through the twenty fifth of this year.
So as as longtime listeners know, I kind of came

(07:50):
out on the show, and actually that's how some people
found out about it. Yeah, but yeah, I do think
it is important, and I think it's good to know
the history of it and remember why it is important, right.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
I know, when we feature so many people around the
world and our activists around the world, when they talk
about having their own pride in their country, they take
a lot of pride in the fact that this is
a thing and how significant it is for them that
in itself is an act of rebellion and being able
to come out in that way in countries where they're
afraid to because they're still being persecuted and prosecuted for

(08:26):
their orientation sexual orientation. So we know it's significant because
it is caught on around the world and it's huge
and it's a big deal.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Absolutely absolutely so to everyone happy Pride. I know not
everybody does in October, but a few places do do
it in October, not just Atlanta. And yeah, we hope
that you're all well. If you want to share any
stories about this, we would love to hear from you.
You can email us at Hello at Stuffannever Told You
dot com. You can find us on blue Sky at

(08:56):
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is always to our super producer, received our executive producer,
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