The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • C1

bMxim I Sunday, june 9, 2019 inquirer.com CURRENTS jj Barbara Gittings picketing with others outside Independence Hal On July 4, 1965. Equality Forum Before Stonewall, Philadelphia pride 'liillfe. HIV ljj In 1965, a courageous few began a movement here. By Chris Bartlett Philadelphia has been at the heart of many American revolutions. Of course it's the birthplace of our nation and its Constitution, but it's largely unknown that our city has played a key role in the birthing and growth of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) rights movement.

In 1965, four years before the famous Stonewall Riots in New York the 50th anniversary of which we celebrate this month the burgeoning LGBTQ activist movement, made up of fewer than 50 people nationwide, started demonstrations on the Fourth of July, dubbed "Annual Reminders," outside of Independence Hall. These activists, including seminal movement leaders such as Barbara Gittings (1932-2007), Frank Kameny (1925-2011), and Kay Lahusen (alive and well and still fighting for our rights at age 89), picketed outside the home of the Liberty Bell to stake a claim for the rights of lesbian and gay people to full citizenship under American law. At a time when homosexuality was deemed a sickness and you could easily lose your job andor your family for coming out, these courageous pioneers carried signs with claims that were viewed as outrageous at the time, including: "Sexual Pref-See LGBTQ EQUALITY on C3 Inspired by 1960s protests, students at Science Leadership Academy Middle School last month held an "Annual Reminder 2.0" to raise awareness of LGBTQ and other groups, courtesy Hilary Hamilton KEVIN RIORDAN After years of silence, LGBTQ stories liberated us. I C4 WHAT'S NEXT? Community leaders and readers respond. C3 NEXT GENERATION Students embrace the LGBTQ path ahead.

C2 Forget Watergate, Dems; this is worse 0 the afternoon of June 25, 1973, I was 14 years old weeks away from high school, still dripping wet from trying to learn the backstroke at summer camp when I heard something that changed my life for good. On a warm summer day when I probably should have been playing baseball in the backyard, I instead badgered my friend across the street to turn You screwed up) A teacher's surprising send-off to grads David Neale, an English teacher at Julia R. Masterman, was the faculty sponsor for the Class of 2019. After recovering from a stroke in February, he delivered this speech at the school's graduation June 3. Welcome to all of you.

Congratulations, Class of 2019. You made it to graduation. You screwed up, and, in spite of that, here you are. Yep. You heard me right.

I said you screwed up. Here's why: We humans screw up. All the time. It's what we do. Everyone you know messes up repeatedly.

Your parents. Your teachers. The president. You. Everybody.

It's expected. It's OK. It happens. See INSPIRATION on C2 WILL BUNCH on his TV so I could watch a man named John Dean flickering on a tiny black-and-white screen. Dean had just resigned as President Richard Nixon's White House counsel, and there was talk he had damaging info about the 37th president and the so-called Watergate scandal.

But I wasn't prepared for the adrenaline rush of hearing a then-34-year-old See JOHN DEAN on C2 John Dean is sworn in at Senate Watergate hearings, a scene that riveted a young Will Bunch. File photo SAVING LIVES Gun-free zones at fault? C5 TRUDY RUBIN The stark contrast of Trump and Macron on D-Day. C5.