What is Pride Month?
Pride Month is a month-long festival, held every June worldwide, honouring the contributions made by the LGBTQ+ community to society. Pride Month typically includes events and activities that encourage inclusion, educate the public, and celebrate the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities.
Why is Pride Month important?
It is a time to recognise the difficulties this community faces and to show support for their efforts to uphold human rights, equality, and acceptance.
While there is progress towards inclusion and acceptance in some areas, some parts of the world have seen LGBTQ+ rights rolled back and repealed in the last year, for instance in Uganda and most recently in Iraq.
Meanwhile a recent report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights states: “Intersex, trans, non-binary and gender diverse people face more harassment and violence. They are more likely to face mental health issues and have suicidal thoughts. They are also more likely to experience homelessness and struggle to access medical care. This is also true for LGBTIQ people with disabilities, in financial hardship or members of ethnic, racial or other minority groups.”
History of Pride Month
“As was common practice in many cities, the New York Police Department would occasionally raid bars and restaurants where gays and lesbians were known to gather. This occurred on June 28, 1969, when the NYPD raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
When the police aggressively dragged patrons and employees out of the bar, several people fought back against the NYPD, and a growing crowd of angry locals gathered in the streets. The confrontations quickly escalated and sparked six days of protests and violent clashes with the NYPD outside the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street and throughout the neighborhood…
One year later, during the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, activists in New York City marched through the streets of Manhattan in commemoration of the uprising…
The march, which took place on June 28, 1970, is now considered the country’s first gay pride parade.”
Read more about the history of Pride here.
Further resources and information
“What is Pride Month? Everything you need to know”, from Inclusive Employers
“Twenty years after section 28 repeal, lessons still need to be learned from UK’s homophobic law”, from The Conversation
“We’re from countries where being gay is illegal – here’s why UK Pride is so important”, from Metro
“Why it’s so vital to celebrate trans joy all year round, not just in Pride Month”, from PinkNews
“Corporate Pinkwashing: How did we get here and what to do about it”, from Fair Planet
