For more on Albany's rich history with the LGBTQIA+ community view WMHT's series Out in Albany (leaves DEC website). John became an alderman in Albany on January 1, 1990. Albany is also the first city in the country to have an openly gay Black person elected to public office. Albany is home to the oldest continually operating LGBTQIA+ community center in the country (The Albany Pride Center).
New York's Capital District (home to DEC's Central Office) also has a long history of being an LGBTQIA+ stronghold in the United States. On the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 1970, the first-ever Pride march was held in New York City. June was chosen as Pride Month in memory of the Stonewall riots, during which members of the LGBTQIA+ community protested a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28, 1969. LGBTQIA+ encompasses lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and other queer identities. In June, DEC joins New York State and our local communities in observing Pride Month - a celebration of LGBTQIA people and their experiences.
