#SHAREOURHISTORY: Craig Rodwell

Each week we will highlight one of the many activists whose contributions helped shape the Pride movement in a crucial way in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
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Craig L. Rodwell (1940-1993) is best known for founding the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, the first bookstore dedicated to gay and lesbian authors. However, his contribution to the modern Pride movement goes much further than that. Although Rodwell is often overlooked by many, some consider him as THE leading gay rights activist in the 1960s.

Throughout the 1960s, before the Stonewall riots, a young Rodwell was deeply involved in setting up special committees for gay rights and organizing protests. His protest rally, which stood up for gay men in the military (1964), has even been recognized as the first protest for gay rights in American History.

When Rodwell was asked about the Stonewall riots, he said, "There was no one thing special about it. It was just everything coming together, one of those moments in history that if you were there, you knew, this is it, this is what we’ve been waiting for.’’

A few months after the riots, Rodwell suggested that the first Gay Parade be held in New York (which is what happened). He continued to fight for gay rights until his death in 1993. With his determination and perseverance, he managed to make many aware of their power through activism.
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