Why Pride?

To understand the importance of Pride Month today, we have to look at how it evolved from the LGBTQ+ Civil Rights movement. In June of 1969, New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn, one of the only safe bars in the city for LGBTQ+ people. Police forced people into the streets and into police vans. Instead of the compliance the police expected, the patrons of Stonewall Inn fought back. Riots lasted for five days in protest of the brutality and degradation experienced by the LGBTQ+ community.

Three years earlier, in Los Angeles, a gay political rights group had formed called Personal Rights in Defense and Education, PRIDE, for short. After the Stonewall Riots, gay and lesbian political rights organizations across the nation rallied around the New York community. In June of 1970, one year after the Stonewall Riots, thousands of people gathered at the site of Stonewall to peacefully demonstrate for civil protections for LGBTQ+ people. This was the first Pride Parade in history. 

So why Pride? 

It is now almost 55 years later, and we continue to see growing hostility towards LGBTQ+ people and mounting legislation targeted against transgender people—think of the bans on Drag Story Time, “Don’t Say Gay” bills, and efforts to limit access to gender affirming care. In states where anti-LGBTQ+ legislation has been passed, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation reports that hate crimes towards LGBTQ+ youth have doubled on K-12 campuses.

This is a health crisis. LGBTQ+ youth who experience non-affirming environments are at a significantly higher risk for depression, substance use disorders, and high risk sexual behavior. Transgender youth, the most vulnerable population, are even more at risk. In fact, 50% of trans youth will attempt suicide at least once before they turn 18. For many kids, there is no safe place…not their home, not their school, not their community. They feel hopeless and alone. 

So why Pride? 

Pride Month is just one piece of an intricate social puzzle. Pride Parades give visibility to the LGBTQ+ community. It says we are here, we are human, and we will not be treated this way. For LGBTQ+ allies, it is a chance for them to stand in solidarity and to tell the community that we stand with them, beside them, and for them. We will not let them be treated this way. For people who are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity, it says you are not alone, and we will support you no matter what.

A lot of large organizations capitalize on Pride Month, launching Pride merchandise for the month of June and airing commercials showing same gender couples. I like to believe the intentions are good. However, at least for me, it is the community organizations and local businesses that express Pride and solidarity year around that get my dollars. Just like Black History Month, Pride Month is a reminder of what we should be doing all year long. It calls on us to understand the history and the brutality suffered by marginalized populations, and take action to prevent that history repeating itself. 

So why Pride? 

I always have a little giggle when someone asks me, “So why isn’t there straight pride?” Well, as mentioned earlier, PRIDE has a specific meaning linked to the political organizations that started the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The meaning of Pride, though, is not about elevating one person’s experience over another; it’s about taking a stand for the human rights and protections that LGBTQ+ people, and all people, deserve. People can celebrate their straightness and all the privilege that comes with that. LGBTQ+ people celebrate Pride because of the rights we have not been granted and the hostility, even death, we’ve experienced fighting for those rights and protections.

Similarly, I’ve been asked, “Why do gay/trans people have to come out?” To that I say, “Cis/Straight people come out all the time.” Every time a cis woman walks into the bra section at Target, she’s coming out as cis. A trans woman may not be able to safely or comfortably do that. Every time a straight man says he took his wife to the lake last weekend, he’s coming out as straight. A lesbian may not have the safety or comfort to say the same thing about her wife. So “coming out” is one of the most important and scary things a LGBTQ+ person can do, and we have to do it over and over throughout our entire lives, to family, friends, colleagues, community, and so on. 

So why Pride? 

Because people deserve to be proud of who they are. Because people deserve to be valued and appreciated and loved, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Because LGBTQ+ people deserve to live their lives with the same openness, safety, and community support afforded to their cis straight peers. 

So why Pride? 

Because you deserve it! If you’re LGBTQ+, take true pride in who you are. Find your tribe, your supportive community, the people who genuinely love you for who you are, not for your gender or who you love. Surround yourself with allies. And never, NEVER, give up the fight for equal rights and protections under the law. We’re not going back to Stonewall, ever.

Drury Fulcher, M.Ed., SPHR
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Director