Today is the last day of Pride month
Each June, communities across the globe come together to celebrate Pride. With its many high-energy events, Pride is a time for joyous celebration of LGBTQ+ culture—so much so that it can be easy to lose sight of the other equally important elements of the holiday. With attacks on the LGBTQ+ community still a common occurrence, Pride is also an important time to highlight the contributions and value of the community; to raise awareness of LGBTG+ achievements and struggles; to remember, love, and support those we’ve lost; and to pay tribute to those that have helped our community flourish.
The roots of Pride stretch back to the 1960s. During this period, there were annual marches advocating for basic civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community. June 28th 2020, marked the 51st anniversary of “The Stonewall Upraising,” which sparked the Gay Liberation Movement. In the early hours of June 28th, 1969, a group of customers at The Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York’s West Village, took a stand and fought back against repeated raids by the police on the bar. As word spread out throughout the city, many men and women joined the cause, with over 1,000 ultimately participating. The demonstration continued for days, spreading throughout the city. Later, in commemoration of the riots, came the first Christopher Street Liberation Day and, one year later, the first Pride parade.
In 1978, an artist named Gilbert Baker created the rainbow flag, which has become a symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride worldwide. Though many subgroups of the community have their own flag or identifying symbols, the rainbow flag has come to represent the diversity and inclusion of the overall community. In the widely known six-color flag, red is symbolic of life; orange of spirit; yellow of sunshine; green of nature; blue of harmony; and purple of spirit. There have been many variations on the flag, but due to recent events this year the flag has been altered in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protest. As such, black and brown have been included to represent diversity and inclusivity, along with light blue, pink, and white to represent the transgender community.
The fight and advocacy for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community continues. On June 15, the community won another battle with the U.S Supreme Court decision to protect LGBTQ+ workers against workplace discrimination. As a result, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also prohibits discrimination in the workplace because of gender identity and sexual orientation.
Why do we celebrate Pride? I think it is self-explanatory, and Pride is best reflected in the name itself: Our community is proud of our differences and celebrates the uniqueness – and yes, queerness – that we possess.
Happy Pride
