If we never celebrated how some people have made the world better, how would progress ever be made? Stonewall was built on the backs of Frank Kameny and the Mattachine Society. They helped people take the first step towards gay rights in an era where being outed as gay wasn’t just the end of your job, but any prospects towards future employment, a social circle, and being cut out from friends and family alike. For many, it was a literal death sentence; people committed suicide over their sons being outed, not to mention the people being outed themselves.

Frank lost his job as an astronomer, a lifelong dream of his, in a time when the US needed astronomers for scientific and military research. He never got it back, because he was outed as gay. But he went on to start the gay rights movement, which later blossomed into a movement where gay marriage was enshrined in law, and most Americans approve of same sex marriage. Nothing is perfect, mind you- we have a smaller version of the lavender scare for trans and queer people again- but there are always bouts of regression followed by progression.

If you want to learn more, this wiki page is good. The books it’s sourced off of are even better.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender_Scare

Anyways, people like Rosa Parks and Frank Kameny are important historical figures who have made the world a better place. It’s good to teach kids and adults alike about how they moved society forwards in a positive way, rather than wholly focusing on the negatives.