Are you feeling Proud? Are you celebrating Pride Month? What’s the big deal about Pride?

Why is June recognised as Pride Month?

Across the United States – and in many other parts of the world – the month of June is officially recognised as a time to celebrate LGBTQ Pride.

The month of June is significant because the Stonewall riots took place at the end of June in 1969.

Brenda Howard is credited with being one of the main driving forces in coordinating the first LGBTQ Pride march. Howard is also credited with the idea for a week-long series of events around Pride Day. Additionally, Howard – along with fellow activists Robert Martin and Craig Schoonmaker – is credited with popularising the word Pride to describe these events.

Throughout the month of June, towns and cities across the US and around the world will be holding LGBTQ Pride celebrations.

Pride in 2019

This year, Pride Month feels particularly significant. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots – the flash-point in New York City that helped ignite LGBTQ Pride celebrations as we know them today.

This is also a year where there have been numerous reminders that we can’t assume that victory in our equality battle is inevitable. Whether it’s Trans discrimination in the US, state-sponsored persecution in Chechnya, or anti-gay laws in Brunei – you don’t have to look far to realise we have to continue to fight to hold onto the gains that have been made and secure safety and equality for LGBTQ everywhere.

Why were the Stonewall riots a big deal?

The Stonewall riots of 28 June 1969 weren’t the first protests or confrontations between police and the LGBTQ community, but they’ve become symbolic of the growing consciousness and confidence that paved the way for the fight for equality and freedom from discrimination.

What triggered the Stonewall riots was a police raid on the Stonewall Inn. In the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn was a mafia-run bar that was a bit of a hub for the neighbourhood’s marginalised LGBTQ community.

In the late 60s, police raids on bars like the Stonewall Inn were commonplace – part of the continuing harassment and victimisation that LGBTQ people were experiencing at that time. The raid on the Stonewall Inn on 28 June 1969 sparked that sense of frustration into violent protests – protests that lasted six days and involved thousands of people. Perhaps most importantly, the riots received widespread media coverage.

Prior to the Stonewall riots, the ‘homophile’ advocates – such as the Mattachine Society – that sought to organise and speak for gay men, favoured assimilation. Their objective was to demonstrate that gay men were ‘normal’ and just like everybody else.

Following the Stonewall riots, and in line with the counter-culture movements of the late-60s, representatives of the LGBTQ community became increasingly emboldened and more confrontational. New organisations were established, community-focused newspapers were published, and there was more of a willingness to be open, to be visible, to be different.

It was on the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, 28 June 1970, that the first gay pride marches were held . The LGBTQ communities of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago held events to commemorate the raid on the Stonewall Inn and the violent confrontation that followed. The following year, gay pride marches were also held in Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, London, Paris, West Berlin, and Stockholm  –  with the number of cities participating continuing to grow in subsequent years.

Today, Pride events and celebrations are a big moment. They’re an important and symbolic opportunity for our community to come together, to celebrate our diversity and our visibility as well as our strength and resilience.

If you’re growing up in today’s world, starting to navigate your sexuality, starting to understand how you connect with the LGBTQ community that you see around you, it’s important to understand how LGBTQ identity has evolved over time, and the role that events such as the Stonewall riots have played in that.

History is important because it helps us learn from those that have gone before us – the battles that have been fought, the struggles that have been won, the mistakes that have been made.

You might not feel that you’ve got much connection with the people who lived in New York City in 1969, but it’s because of those people  –  because of their lifetimes of harassment and discrimination that culminated in six nights of violence  –  that we can proudly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, or however you want to define yourself within the broad LGBTQ umbrella. It’s because of those people that we can live openly as ourselves, that we can get married if we want, that we can have families if we want, that we have the freedom to lead the lives that we want. It’s because of those people that we continue to hold Pride marches around the world. We honour the marginalised people of Greenwich Village  –  people who had nothing left to lose, people who were pushed so far that they had no alternative but to stand up to harassment and stand up to discrimination .

But our Pride marches aren’t just to commemorate the Stonewall riots of 1969. Our Pride marches are to continue to demand visibility, to continue to demand equality. Our Pride marches demand solidarity for LGBTQ people around the world, in every country  -  particularly those where LGBTQ people face oppression, violence, and death, just for being who they are.

In this year, the 50th anniversary of those pivotal nights of violence, let’s remember the people of the Stonewall riots – they’ve helped us achieve so much. But let’s not forget that we need to keep marching  -  there’s still plenty that we need to fight for.

Where to celebrate Pride Month

8 June – Los Angeles

Cities don’t get much gayer than West Hollywood – the gay heart of LA.

8 June – Key West

Key West is old-school gay, but it’s still a really fun place to get naked and celebrate Pride.

22 June – Houston

One of the few Pride marches held after dark, this year’s headliner is Houston-local, Lizzo.

23 June – Toronto

Toronto takes their Pride seriously, but they also know how to throw a great party.

29 June – San Francisco

For decades, San Francisco has helped define our understanding of what it means to be part of a gay community. The city that gave us Harvey Milk is always a great place to wave the rainbow flag.

30 June – Chicago

It could get windy, but it’s worth it.

Be part of World Pride

Finish Pride Month off with a bang. World Pride comes to NYC, to help mark the 50th anniversary of where it all began.

New York City’s Pride festival will be running throughout the month of June, culminating in the march on 30 June.

There’s a huge range of events planned – everything from film, theatre, performance, to history, sport, and music.

More than three million people are expected to take part in New York City’s Pride celebrations.