PRIDE:
THE STORY OF THE
LGBTQ EQUALITY MOVEMENT
BY MATTHEW TODD
WELDON OWEN
In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the first Pride parade, writer, journalist, and former editor of Attitude magazine Matthew Todd brings us Pride: The Story of the LGBTQ Equality Movement, a beautiful, exhaustively researched history of milestones in the community’s fight for equality.
But this is a new kind of Pride month, one defined by pandemic-related concern and nationwide protest of systemic racism and police brutality. Todd is explicit in linking the fight for LGBTQ+ equality with any struggle to secure fairness and justice. As he says in his introduction to the book: “If we really want to honor the people who fought at the Stonewall Inn on that unusually hot June night in 1969, then we need to defend those hard-won rights and confront anything that threatens the free and stable societies protecting them. Those who wish to control others or have an interest in the status quo will tell you that protest never achieves anything. I hope this book assures you that protest can achieve a great deal, and that when people act together they have true power – and that sometimes using that power is absolutely necessary.”
Pride is a unique and comprehensive account of the challenges facing the LGBTQ community, and a celebration of the rights that have been won for so many as a result of the sacrifices and passion of this mass movement.
The book includes a wealth of rare images and documents, accompanied by moving essays from key players in and witnesses to the moments that pushed the movement forward, such as personal testimonies from Judy Shepard, activist and mother of Matthew Shepard; Jake Shears; David Furnish [Elton John’s husband] and many others.
I had a chance to chat with Todd via Skype from his home in London.
