One great way to celebrate Pride Month: Document LGBTQ history before it’s lost

June 28, 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, when LGBTQ people and allies fought back in a six-night riot against a police raid on The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. Stonewall was not the first time that LGBTQ people took a stand against oppression or police harassment, but it was a major turning point in the global fight for queer liberation and civil rights. 

As a twenty-something gay person living in New York — where, as the sign in Stonewall claims, “Pride began” — I’ve been thinking about how to properly mark the occasion and what exactly Pride celebrations mean to me. What I know for sure, especially after my conversation with Dave Isay, StoryCorps founder and 2015 TED Prize winner, is that one of the most important things we can do this Pride Month is listen to the older LGBTQ people in our lives and document their stories. 

“It has been 50 years since Stonewall, and the people who were living that history are now in their 70s, 80s and 90s,” Isay told me. “Recording interviews takes emotional energy; it takes time. We’re asking people to record these LGBTQ stories now as an act of public service, because the totality of these stories is American history. We must collect them before they are lost forever.”

Since 2003, StoryCorps has invited people to interview each other and record their exchanges. The organization’s mission is “to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.” These stories are then shared by StoryCorps and preserved in the Library of Congress for future generations to learn from. 

Stonewall OutLoud is a new initiative from StoryCorps that is focused on collecting LGBTQ stories from Americans in order to capture this important but sometimes overlooked aspect of our country’s history. These stories can help inform the next generation of LGBTQ-affirming relatives, mentors, activists and community leaders. 

Historically, Pride has been a time to be loud. It’s a time for queer people to be visible and for all people to advocate for equality and justice. As we commemorate this landmark anniversary of Stonewall, it’s also become clear to me that it’s a time to listen to LGBTQ experiences from the past as well. That way, we’ll all know exactly why we’re shouting in the streets and what kind of future we’re marching for. 

Here’s how to get involved: 

• Make a pledge to record an LGBTQ story.
• Record it with by using the StoryCorps App, which provides start-to-finish tools for the process.
• Use the app to listen to Stonewall OutLoud stories.
• Spread the word about Stonewall OutLoud on your networks using the #StonewallOutLoud.