History seeks to tell the truth yet it’s open to myths and legends prompting us removed from the events of any one particular event to ask: what happened?  The Stonewall rebellion is an event shrouded in myths asking the questions: what did happen and how did Philadelphians, regardless of their sexual or gender identity, respond to the protests of June 28-July 3, 1969?  Join us as we host Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, as he discusses his early years of LGBTQ+ activism including Stonewall.  His story speaks louder than the clicking of a pair of slippers.

From pioneering history as a participant at the Stonewall Riots, to being a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front NY 1969-71 and founder of Gay Youth (the nation’s first organization to deal with bullying and suicide of LGBT youth), to being a marshal and member of the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day Committee which created the world’s first Gay Pride in 1970, Mark Segal has been involved in LGBT civil rights since he moved to New York in May 1969.  

Founder of the Philadelphia Gay News and past president of both The National LGBT Press Association and The National Gay Newspaper Guild, Segal’s memoir And Then I Danced: Traveling the road to LGBT Equality, was named best book by The National LGBT Journalists Association. His weekly syndicated column, “Mark My Words”, has won numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalist and the National Newspaper Association.

This event is free and open to the public, is a collaboration between our Newspaper and Literature Departments and will be held at Parkway Central Library.

To register, please click HERE