Commemorating and celebrating Pride Month

By Nikonie Brown-McManus, digital content associate, and Michelle Sy-Savane, scholarships associate

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is celebrated annually in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided a popular gay bar in N.Y.C.’s West Village, The Stonewall Inn. This was commonplace for the time, but on this particular evening, the patrons of the bar fought back, starting the Stonewall Riots, which went on for days.

Today, celebrations include parades, parties, workshops and other events that attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.

While Pride celebrates the progress that has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Check out the list of resources, events and recommendations below to help celebrate Pride Month.

Resources

• The Smithsonian has a list of events, resources and podcast episodes about Pride Month.
• Did you know that each color on the rainbow flag – created in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker – has its own meaning? Red is symbolic of life, orange is symbolic of healing, yellow is sunshine, green is nature, blue represents harmony and purple is spirit. In the original eight-color flag, hot pink was included to represent sex and turquoise to represent magic/art.
  • Watch a short video about the origins of the original Pride flag here. 
• People Magazine shares information about Pride’s beginning, key figures and ways to celebrate and get involved here.

Events

• June 19-25: Southern Fried Queer Pride 2023 Festival in Little Five Points
• June 25: Drag Me To Church
• June 30: Pride Night at Atlanta Dream game

Notable LGBTQ people

• Singer and actress Josephine Baker
• American writer, James Baldwin
• New Orleans bounce artist Big Freedia
• Indo-Caribbean, queer and Muslim immigrant rights activist, Mohamed Q Amin
• American gay liberation activist, Marsha P. Johnson
• Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo
• American tennis player, Billie Jean King
• American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, Harvey Milk

Documentary, film, TV recommendations for a night in:

• Paris is Burning
• Pose
• The Times of Harvey Milk
• Will & Grace

Photo by Sophie Emeny on Unsplash