What is Pride Month?
Pride Month, observed throughout June, is an annual celebration honouring and acknowledging the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Why do we celebrate pride month?
This month-long commemoration began just over five decades ago, following the events of the Stonewall riots, also referred to as the Stonewall uprising. These protests, initiated by members of the gay community in response to a police raid, marked a significant turning point that brought about an improvement in the gay liberation movement and the global struggle for LGBTQ rights.
How is Pride Month celebrated?
Pride Month is marked by a variety of festivities, including pride parades, picnics, parties, concerts, and more. Local communities often organize dedicated celebrations to provide individuals with the opportunity to join in the cheerfulness of the month. Alongside these events, museums host exhibits, art shows that showcase LGBTQ artists, and performances that bring together diverse voices to illuminate LGBTQ experiences.
Participating individuals also demonstrate their support by wearing the iconic rainbow-striped Pride flag. The original pride flag was designed to honour the members of the gay and lesbian political movement, the original flag featured eight coloured stripes, symbolizing a rainbow, with each colour representing a specific meaning.
Pride flag meaning:
- Pink: Sex
- Red: Life
- Orange: Healing
- Yellow: Sunlight
- Green: Nature
- Turquoise: Magic
- Indigo: Serenity
- Violet: Spirit
Currently, the original Pride flag remains with all its original colours, with the exception of pink and turquoise.
As the LGBTQ+ community expanded and diversified however, the flag's colours and appearance underwent modifications to better represent the various communities within it.
How can we support Pride Month?
Whether you consider yourself to be LGBTQ or not, you can still celebrate pride month as an ally, and there are always different ways available to show your support and care for the community. Here are some ways you can get involved:
- Educating yourself- Many people know when Pride Month is, and have an idea of what is celebrates, however, many have no idea why it began and what its importance is. Why not spend this month learning about the history of Pride and why is celebration is so important.
- Attending a Pride Event- All over the world, Pride month events and parades are held to celebrate, check out your local city or town this month and see if and when they are holding celebrations. What’s better, because pride month is a whole month celebration, you have the opportunity to attend multiple events if you wish!
- Become an ally- Sometimes the best way to celebrate is just to understand and care. Sometimes, when someone in life tells you that they are LGBTQ, it can be difficult to know how to respond. Initially, you may feel surprised, excited, or confused, as will the other person, be honest with your response and kind, and remember how you respond is important, as you never know what kind of impact it may have.
- Supporting LGBTQ art and culture- There are plenty of LGBTQ themed art shows, performances and tv movies/shows which are great to educate yourself watching. You don’t even have to leave the house! Many big streaming platforms like Disney+ offer a LGBTQ collection of movies and shows based on and starring actors and actresses from the gay community.
- Volunteering / donating- Give back to the community by volunteering in LGBTQ organised and based activities. Donate to local charities helping support the community, there are plenty online you can help support, including the Stonewall Charity, Exist Loudly Charity of the Galop Charity.
- Become an advocate: You can also show your support at your work, or school. If you company or school doesn’t have a Pride Employee Network, why not start one? Pride Employee Networks help to promote LGBTQ inclusive culture and empowers its members, the LGBTQ culture is promoted through leadership education, business development training and community activities.
Hopefully, this blog has helped highlight the significance of Pride Month and the pride month meaning, the reasons behind its celebration, and ways for you to actively participate.
Be sure to explore opportunities for involvement, such as donating to LGBTQ+ charities that provide support to these communities or attending festivals that allow you to express your solidarity!
