Pride Month

Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969.

LGBT Pride Month
A 2018 pride parade in San Francisco, California
Type	Cultural
Observances	Celebration of LGBT pride, rights, and culture
Date	June
Frequency	Annual
First time	1970; 54 years ago (1970)

Origins

The concept of Pride Month began with the Stonewall riots, a series of riots for gay liberation that took place over several days beginning on June 28, 1969. The riots began after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located within Lower Manhattan in New York City. Activists Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Stormé DeLarverie are credited for inciting the riots, though Johnson disputes her involvement.

 

The year after the riots, the first pride marches were held in several US cities. The march in New York City, aimed to celebrate the "Christopher Street Liberation Day", alongside parallel marches across the US, is considered to be a watershed moment for LGBT rights. Fred Sargeant, an organizer of some of the first marches, said that the goal was to commemorate the Stonewall riots and further push for liberation. He noted that while the first marches were more akin to a protest than a celebration, it helped to remind people of LGBT communities and how they may include one's family and friends. Transgender women and people of color were noted to have been excluded or silenced during the early marches, despite the initial riots largely consisting of them.

Spread and celebration

Following the Stonewall riots and the first pride marches, the number of LGBT groups rapidly increased, and the pride movement spread across the United States after a few years. As of 2020, most pride celebrations in major urban areas around the world are held in June, although some cities hold them at different times of the year partially because of the weather in June being suboptimal for such events there.

 

International LGBT Pride Day is a day dedicated to LGBT Pride. It is held on June 28 to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, making it part of Pride Month.

The first reference to an international pride day is likely by San Francisco Pride, whose march was entitled International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade between from 1981 to 1994. In 1991, Serbian group Arkadija commemorated International Pride Day with a forum concerning queer activism and art at Belgrade Youth Center. Nicaragua's first public pride festival was also held on this day 1991 to commemorate the Stonewall Riots. Serbia also marked International Pride Day in between 2013 and 2015 with Hate-Free Zone actions, organized by GSA, Women in Black and other NGOs.

 

In June 1999, US President Bill Clinton declared "the anniversary of [the] Stonewall [riots] every June in America as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month". In 2011, President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include the whole of the LGBT community. In 2017 Donald Trump declined to continue the federal recognition of Pride Month in the United States, though he later recognized it in 2019 in a Tweet later used as a Presidential Proclamation.

After taking office in 2021, Joe Biden recognized Pride Month and vowed to push for LGBT rights in the United States, despite previously voting against same-sex marriage and school education of LGBT topics in the Senate.

Pride Month is often observed in several LGBT-affirming religious congregations.^{[citation needed]}

 

Some have criticized how many companies release Pride Month-themed products, likening it to the concept of slacktivism, as the companies are perceived to be using the topic of LGBT rights as a means of profit, without contributing to the movement in a meaningful way. Others have criticized the seemingly hypocritical nature of companies making social media profiles evoke the rainbow pride flag while refusing to alter the profile pictures in areas without broad LGBT acceptance.

Some religious and cultural groups oppose Pride Month on ideological grounds. They view LGBTQ+ identities and relationships as contrary to their beliefs and traditions. These objections often lead to tensions and conflicts during Pride Month, as LGBTQ+ individuals and their allies assert their rights to visibility and inclusion.

New Zealand

Pride month is celebrated at different times throughout New Zealand. In Auckland, it is celebrated in February, and in Christchurch and Wellington Pride Month is in March.