CPUSA.com
The following statement was issued June 21 by the Communist Party USA and Young Communist League in honor of Pride Month.
The month of June has been designated as Pride Month in celebration of the struggles and achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the United States. This coming weekend marks the anniversary of the uprising that occurred at the Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969, in New York City. The uprising, in response to bar raids and attacks by the police, was led by working-class gay and transgender people, many of whom were Black or Latino, and became a rallying point for LGBT people in the United States and around the world.
Every year since, LGBT people and their allies have been holding parades and rallies to highlight the discrimination that LGBT people face and to struggle forward for equality and liberation.
In 2006, we still have a long ways to go. This year marks the 25th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Today, millions of people are still denied access to life-saving drugs and medical help because of profit-driven drug corporations. In our schools, the ultra-right and religious conservatives deny students access to scientifically accurate sex education while more young people are becoming infected with HIV every year.
In our schools, in our workplaces and in our streets, LGBT people are faced with discrimination, hatred and violence.