Before the Party, There Was the Fight

This Pride, we're going back to where it all began—Los Angeles, 1970, Hollywood Boulevard, the site of the very first Pride parade.

In our latest FACEism episode, we explore the footage preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, home to the largest collection of LGBTQ+ moving images in the world. But the joy captured in that first parade is only part of the story. The real story is how its participants got there.

Three years earlier, a 1967 police raid at the Black Cat in Silver Lake became a flashpoint in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, at a time when being gay was criminalized in all 50 states. Activists like Alexei Romanoff recall the fear, the rage, and the courage it took to stand up. "For the first time people stood up and said I'm queer and I'm okay." Voices including George Takei reflect on what it meant to live under constant threat—and what it meant to finally celebrate in the open.

From rage to courage to pride, this is the history behind the celebration. Watch the new episode now. 🏳️‍🌈

Historic Film Footage Courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Packard Humanities Institute