The Salt Lake Community College Gender & Sexuality Student Resource Center presented a lecture on the Stonewall Uprising and its legacy in the South City Campus multipurpose room on June 12.
Bre Alonzo, who works at SLCC’s Writing & Reading Center, said that the lecture provided valuable insights regarding the Stonewall Uprisings significance within the LGBTQ+ community. Alonzo also thought the communication strategies offered in the lecture were helpful.
“I quite enjoyed the lecture. I learned a lot about Stonewall. I loved learning about the styles of communication. In this climate of political state of America, it’s nice to have these tools for critical conversations,” Alonzo said.
Keegan Cummings, a psychology major, stated that the lecture provided useful information that can be utilized in conversations.
“I absolutely loved it. Lots of healthy boundaries and healthy ways of communication were mentioned and I really enjoyed that. It was incredible,” said Cummings.
Peter Moosman, the coordinator of the Gender & Sexuality Student Resource Center at SLCC, presented a brief history of the Stonewall Uprising. The remainder of the lecture was spent delving into broader themes of genuineness and unified strength.
Sandwiches and fruit were provided.
Brief history of Stonewall Uprising
In the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street, a gay club in New York City. Patrons and local sympathizers began rioting against the authorities.
The police were legally justified in raiding the club due to it lacking a liquor license, but New York’s gay community had become tired of the police harassing gay clubs.
The crowd began to throw objects at the police. The riot led to several days of demonstrations in New York and served as momentum for the creation of the Gay Liberation Front and other gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations. In the following year of 1970, New York had the first official gay pride parade.
LGBTQ+ Pride Month is annually observed in June and commemorates the Stonewall Uprising. President Bill Clinton officially declared June “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month” in 1999, and President Barack Obama designated June as LGBT Pride Month in 2011. In 2019, the New York Police Department made a formal apology for its role in the Stonewall Riots.
Lessons in communication
Following the presentation on the origins of Pride Month, Moosman emphasized that liberation looks different in 2025.
Moosman discussed communication methods and how deportment — a person’s behavior — can make a difference in communication. Moosman emphasized the importance of honoring the past by empowering the present.
“Liberation is a practice, not a destination,” Moosman reminded attendees.
Moosman encouraged the audience to collect knowledge, reject easy answers, embrace complexity, and stressed the importance of collaborating with other groups that differ from our own.
Alonzo stated that they looked forward to experimenting with the tools they learned during the lecture.
“I really appreciate that Peter had this for the college. Just being able to show, experience and learn more about queer people’s history and learn how to have critical conversations,” Alonzo said. “It’s really nice. I can’t wait to try it out myself.”
Cummings also appreciated SLCC for providing a welcoming space where people can openly share diverse perspectives, express themselves freely and foster inclusiveness by embracing all viewpoints.
“I love that SLCC is a place that we can talk about these things,” said Cummings. “The environment where you could be whatever you want to be. We can have both sides of the conversation and that everyone’s accepted here.”
