LGBT Pride Month is a month, typically June, dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride. Pride Month began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the United States. Modern-day Pride Month both honors the movement for LGBT rights and celebrates LGBT culture.
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.
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.
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.
[caption id="attachment_247892" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Sir William Wallace by David of Buchan[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas, Norman French: William le Waleys) was a Scottish k...