Craig Howell, president of the Gay Activists’ Alliance from 1973-74 recounted, “One policeman had been coming in repeatedly asking for various licenses.about a week or so ago this took an ugly turn when the policeman brought in some of his buddies and did the usual harassment, and then afterwards they stayed outside the grill when it closed down and started harassing patrons by asking them for identification.” The police also raided the Cinema Follies movie theatre and the Club Bathhouse around that same time. In prior years, there had not been many run-ins with the police, but suddenly officers began asking to see identification at the Georgetown Grill and harassing gay customers. White gays frequented places like the Georgetown Grill, the Lost and Found, and the DC Eagle. Popular locales for Black gays included the Nob Hill Restaurant and social clubs like the Best of Washington. had a robust, albeit segregated, gay scene. As they were discussing who would be going, one of his friends asked why their own city, Washington, D.C., didn’t have a similar event ─ it was the nation’s capital, after all. Gay rights activist Larry “Deacon” Maccubbin was at a party with friends in 1975 when the topic of New York Pride eventually came up.
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