SARASOTA – Pride month is coming to an end and members of the LGBT community are remembering the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
The riots were a series of violent confrontations between police and gay rights activist outside the Stonewall Inn. Joan Alden an author living in Sarasota lived in Manhattan at the time of the riots.
Alden says she was inspired to come out by the brave men and women standing up for gay rights. “It was an important event because it broke open something that then was exposed that forced people to make a choice on how they were going to live as a gay and lesbian person,” said Alden.
Alden has written four books discussing the riots and her life. She says she the riots gave her the courage to be true to herself.
