Celebrating Pride Month!
Happy June! We are six months into the year. Can you believe we are halfway through 2022 already! Time is flying, and we are so happy to kick this month off by celebrating two historically marginalized groups and their hard work and accomplishments. As you may know, June is Pride Month, and we want to celebrate it with the LGBTQ+ community. This month, we will also celebrate Juneteenth with the Black community! We want to spread awareness and celebrate this national holiday. We will recognize the hard work and honor both communities. We are so excited that we thought we would start this thing off by celebrating Pride Month.
What is Pride Month
Pride Month, also celebrated as Gay pride and LGBT pride, is a month-long celebration of the culture, achievements, activism, and pride of the LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and more) community. This month is also dedicated to bringing awareness to the ongoing issues of inequality, prejudice, and injustice that the LGBTQ+ community faces even today. We also use this month to honor and remember the many lives lost due to hate crimes including, Sakia Gunn, Larry King, Angie Zapata, Jody Dobrowski, and so many more.
Pride Month is full of celebrations and education. The LGBTQ+ community and allies join together to march, hold outdoor festivals and parades, concerts, workshops, street fairs, and more. One of the biggest Pride celebrations takes place in New York City, which is the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement. The NYC Pride Parade is the largest Pride Month parade. Its largest attendance record was roughly 2 million people in 2018.
How Did Pride Month Get Started
Pride Month actually started off as Gay Pride Day, which was first held in June 1970. The day became symbolic of the Stonewall Uprising, also known as the Stonewall Riots. On June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular bar on Christopher Street in Manhattan, New York. The bar had become a safe haven for those in the LGBTQ+ community. Members of the community stood their ground during the raid, and as a result, the clash led to days of rioting and protesting. A year later, thousands of those a part of the community returned to Christopher Street to march. This event became known as the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day March, and it was the first of many gay pride events to come.
How Can I Support the LGBTQ+ Community
Well, we can all start by learning and educating ourselves. Education is a strong way to break any biases one may have about the LGBTQ+ community, and it is a great way to educate peers who may have some biases. We can also uplift those in the community and celebrate their pride with them. We can do this through acceptance, giving them the space to be who they are, and we can also support them at their events. If you want more information regarding notable Pride events that are taking place this year, check out the sites below:
Los Angeles: June 11–12, 2022
Chicago: June 25–26, 2022
San Francisco: June 25–26, 2022
New Orleans: June 9–12, 2022
Provincetown, MA: June 3–5, 2022
Philadelphia: Sunday, June 5, 2022
Nashville, TN: June 25–26, 2022
Key West, FL: June 1–5, 2022
The LGBTQ+ community has made so many strides to be seen and represented. We are so excited to spread more awareness of their efforts, achievements, and culture. Happy Pride Month. Please join us next week as we share more ways we can support them, and as always, we are here for you.