June Pride and Juneteenth

As June comes around each year, the excitement of the summer brings us two important celebratory occasions. 

Pride Month kicks off June with parades and festivals to honor love, inclusion, and the incredible strength of the LGBTQIA+ community. Celebrating a slightly new federal holiday on June 19^th—Juneteenth is also known as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.” WPCCU proudly recognizes the contributions and influences of both in American history.

Throughout the month, WPCCU team members will commemorate Pride Month through our internal channels with various highlights and presentations, along with a Juneteenth Lunch & Learn. Read on to learn more about the history behind our June celebrations.

Observing Juneteenth 

Observed on June 19 each year, Juneteenth was signed into legislation in 2021 by the President, making it a federal holiday. Over the past few years Juneteenth celebrations across the United States increased in the wake of the nationwide protests that followed the police killings of Black Americans in the summer of 2020. 

Juneteenth’s original celebrations involved prayer and family gatherings, and later included annual pilgrimages to Galveston, Texas by former enslaved people and their families, according to Juneteenth.com. We encourage readers to dive into the important history by visiting history.com.

Pride Month

The LGBTQIA+ community kicked off Pride Month with the WeHo Pride weekend and more celebrations coming June 8^th to spread awareness with fervor and authenticity. The 55th Annual LA Pride Parade, followed by LA Pride Village are among the most popular events known, and there are many more celebrations throughout the month that can be found here: 2025 LA Pride Events Calendar – LA Pride.

Please join us on our journey and read further to learn more about the movement and where it all began. 

The Black Cat’s Pride History

We pay homage to a historic-cultural monument The Black Cat. Stonewall is popularly known to have launched the LGBTQI+ revolution. However, before Stonewall, there was the Black Cat.

The Stonewall Inn was raided by police on June 28, 1969, in New York City’s West Village where they physically assaulted customers. 

The Black Cat is in Los Angeles, California, in fact right up the street from WPCCU’s Sunset Branch Office in the Echo Park Area. This modest Art Deco building was the site of a 1967 police raid. The Black Cat in the 1960s was a gay bar attracting a largely working-class clientele. At a New Year’s celebration, eight undercover police officers raided the bar. Patrons were sadly beaten and dragged out into the street. 

On February 11, 1967, hundreds gathered outside of the bar to peacefully protest police brutality. This event represents the early evolution of the LGBTQI + civil rights movement. The court case related to this incident was the first time in U.S. history that gay men were defended as equal under the U.S. Constitution. The court disagreed. The Black Cat was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2008.

We wish you a wonderful Pride Month and Juneteenth holiday!