What to Know about LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Taking place every June, Pride Month celebrates the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. In the last more than 50 years since the first Pride Month was celebrated in the United States, the month-long celebration of love, acceptance, diversity, and self-pride has become a global phenomenon. 

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.  Let’s look back at how it started, and how to celebrate and support it.

A Brief History of Pride Month 

Before Pride Month become a celebration, it started out as a protest. June 28, 1969 marks the start of the Stonewall riots in which the queer community responded to a police raid that began at the Stonewall Inn, a bar located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York, that served as a safe haven for the city’s gay, lesbian and transgender community. 

At the time, homosexual acts were deemed illegal in almost every state, and bars and restaurants faced getting shut down for having gay employees or serving gay patrons. While police had raided gay establishments before, on that particular night, members of the LGBTQ community decided to fight back, sparking an uprising that would launch a new era of resistance that would later turn to a celebration. 

Mark Segal was one of the many LGBTQ people outside Stonewall Inn, where a stand was being taken against the latest police raid of one of the community’s few safe spaces to gather in New York City. A transgender woman and activist Marsha P. Johnson picked up the first brick thrown in rage, kicking off the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

History of Pride in the United States

Why June? 

On June 28, 1970, on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the first Pride parade set off from Stonewall. Gay activists in New York organized the Christopher Street Liberation March to cap off the city’s first Pride Week. Several hundred people started marching up 6th Avenue, toward Central Park. The parade eventually stretched 15 city blocks and encompassed thousands of supporters.

Celebrations Across the Country 

Activists in other cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago, organized Pride celebrations that same year, celebrations that would continue through today.

Origins of the Rainbow Flag 

The rainbow flag was popularized as a symbol of the gay community by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colors are often associated with "diversity" in the gay community, but actually have literal meanings. Hot pink, before it was removed, stood for sex; red means life; orange means healing; yellow means sunlight; green means nature; turquoise means magic and art; indigo (later changed to royal blue) means serenity; and violet means spirit. There are several other flags in the LGBTQ+ community, including the transgender flag, pansexual flag and more.

How to Celebrate 

With much of the country starting to reopen after the pandemic brought things to a standstill there is the host of in-person events taking place.

After a month-long celebration with various events, New York will host its annual NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 26. Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Key West, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Portland, Provincetown, San Francisco and Seattle are just some of the major cities holding Pride Month events throughout the month of June. 

Several calendar days of note bring awareness to the month and important historical milestones in LGBTQ+ history, including HIV Long-Term Survivors Day on June 5, which honors and increases visibility around HIV survivor issues and needs, Pulse Remembrance Day on June 12, a remembrance of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting victims, National HIV Testing Day on June 27 which encourages individuals to be tested for HIV, and Queer Youth of Faith Day on June 30, to celebrate and empower LGBTQ youth of different faiths.

The Stonewall Riots Anniversary on June 28 is also important to note in commemorating the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. In honor of that monumental day, Kesha will be taking the stage in front of the Stonewall Inn in New York City for a special performance, June 24, to mark Pride Month and Stonewall Day 2022. 

Along with Kesha, the event will feature performances from Betty, Mila Jam, and Shea Diamond, as well as choreography by Stonewall Day creative director Kellen Stancil. Appearing throughout the event via video message will be an array of supporters including Barack Obama, Rufus Wainwright, Adam Lambert, Billy Porter, Conchita Wurst, Tom Daley, Chelsea Clinton, and Dustin Lance Black.

Source: etonline

Conclusion

6 Things to Understand and Get Inspired

1. Pride Month is in June to commemorate the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969.

2. Pride Month also honors uprisings that predate Stonewall.

3. Pride is intersectional.

4. Pride Month was first formally recognized by President Clinton in 1999 and centered gay and lesbian people.

5. Pride Month was expanded to recognize the bisexual and transgender community in 2009 by President Obama.

6. People who are not LGBTQ+ can celebrate and show their support of the LGBTQ+ community during Pride, too.

Source: lesley.edu

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