Why do we celebrate Pride Month?

Tamia Reid , News Reporter ‘25

The month of June is known for many different things: the start of Summer, Juneteenth, Father’s Day, and one well known example is Pride. Throughout the month of June the LGBTQ+ community is celebrated with parades and marches all throughout the world

Pride month officially became Pride month in June of 1970. It was first known as Gay Liberation then Gay Freedom. Over time it has changed to be most commonly knows as Gay Pride. Pride was created to commemorate the Stonewall riots that occurred at  New York in June 1969. The Stonewall riots began because of the police raid on June 28th 1969 that happened at Stonewall, which was a gay club at the time. 

An exact year after this incident Brenda Howard also known as “The Mother of Pride” coordinated the first Gay Liberations March in New York City. From then Pride has turned into a celebration of people being true versions of themselves. “Pride Month presents an opportunity- and an obligation- to reflect on why our LGBTQ+ community matters “states Joe English the founder of Hope in a Box which is a nonprofit that brings inclusive LGBTQ books and curriculums to public schools around the nation.

The Pride flag has  become a substantial part of pride celebrations. The first flag was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978. The rainbow colors are meant to represent the diversity and unity of the LGBTQ+ community. The progress pride flag was created in 2018. On this flag pink, white, and blue were added to represent transgender people and brown and black were added to represent the people of color in the LGBTQ+ community. The black stripe also has a double meaning as it stands for people with aids as well. 

Some of the largest pride parades are held in NYC, Spain, Brazil and so many other countries010000 from all around. Pride has turned into some of the largest celebrations  and continues to brighten streets all around the world throughout the month of June.