The police tried - and failed - to arrest anyone whose identification didn’t match their presentation. Police entered and demanded that patrons surrender their identification so they could compare the gender stated on the identification with each customer’s appearance and gender presentation. Police went into Cooper Do-nuts, a place that was a well-known hangout where “gay men, transwomen, hustlers and drag queens” gathered. What is often called one of the United States’ first LGBTQ+ uprisings occurred at a Los Angeles coffee shop in May of 1959. May 1959: The Cooper Do-nuts Riot, Los Angeles

Learn about where and how the protests and confrontations that are now commemorated annually at Pride first took place to better understand LGBTQ+ history and progress. The International LGBTQ+ Travel Association credits Pride parades and marches around the world with contributing to the increased visibility of and attention paid to LGBTQ+ rights movements worldwide.