JUNE IS PRIDE MONTH
The LGBT community celebrates Pride Month during the month of June. Together with families, friends and allies, events are held all over the world to recognize the remarkable influence LGBT people have had on our lives and the human race as a whole. June was chosen as Pride Month because it was the month when the Stonewall Riots took place.
The riots took place in June 1969 to protest against a police raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The goal was to bring public attention to the need for safe places for people, regardless of sexual orientation; places where people could meet without the fear of being arrested simply for being gay. Brenda Howard, “Mother of Pride”, coordinated the first LGBT Pride march and this initiative served as a catalyst for the rights of LGBT people. Gay activist groups started to form in New York and since then many gay rights organizations have been established.
Pride Month is a time when the LGBT community is front and center and celebrated. It is an opportunity to celebrate sexual diversity and differences. It promotes dignity and equal rights and brings to public awareness the kinds of issues that LGBT people face. It is the hope that a special awareness month dedicated to the affirmation of LGBT individuals, and their needs for justice and equality, will permeate our consciousness all year long.