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Ira Einhorn used to spend a lot of time there. You’ve got the anti-war protests going on around City Hall, and on the other side of Broad Street, an emerging subculture, with gay and lesbian nightclubs. It was more than transvestites and -prostitutes - it was an area of transition. “The neighborhood was totally different in the late ’60s and ’70s, and this is not a gay issue, but just an issue of general crime. We’re lucky we actually have places where we can get together and drink.’” - Ada Bello In so many cases, homosexuals had internalized the societal picture of them and were almost apologetic - almost saying, ‘We’re lucky we’re not in jail. But when it came to trying to socialize, we had to go to these places that were dark and down alleys, and the police were always a potential threat, with raids that would have terrible consequences on people’s lives. “We considered ourselves good citizens we had good jobs. We were demanding, rather than saying ‘Please let us have our rights.’” They wanted to fit in and show society what they were like. Mark Segal, the founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News, says, “It was very orderly, with the men in suits and women in dresses. It gave you a certain pride to finally say, ‘Yes, this is who I am.’” That came later… But it was very forceful. “We were picketing for freedom and equal rights, and the Liberty Bell was a great symbol.”Īda Bello, an activist who participated in the 1969 march, says, “The marches were to convey to everybody that we were just as entitled as any citizen to have our rights respected. A participant in the first Reminder march, Reverend Robert Wood, explained why they chose Philadelphia as the setting for these historic and groundbreaking marches. This group included Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, and others. “It must be great to be that brave.” At a time when homosexuality was classified as a medical disease, and sodomy was illegal in every state but one, activists who would come to be known as the Gay Pioneers weren’t afraid. “Oh my goodness,” she remembers thinking. Marj McCann, a 25 year old office manager in Center City, told Philadelphia Magazine that she had watched the marchers from behind a trash can across from Independence Hall at that first march. The last one was in 1969, right after the Stonewall Riots, for which they set the stage. These became the Annual Reminder marches. The 1965 protest was one of the first organized protests for gay and lesbian rights. Left: 1965 protest for gay and lesbian rights at Independence Hall.