Three Things We Actually Need To Remember As LGBTQ+ Pride Month Comes To An End

Even though we only have one official month for pride, it does not finish after this month, to be forget till the following year. There are 11 months more of the year which progression, rights and representation should continue for this community. There are three things that we need to take in from pride and continue to remember as we move on from this beautiful month. 

1. The Origins of Pride Month

   The definition of 'pride' is a feeling of the profound pleasure of satisfaction from one's achievement and consciousness of one's dignity.

   June is dedicated to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) community to celebrate pride month. This celebration originated in 1969 in Manhattan, New York, at the Stonewall Inn, a popular Greenwich Village nightclub.  The community was sick of the police brutality and finally decided to fight back, lasting over three days.

   This was a pivotal movement for activists, the members of community connected through their struggle and banded together to fight for their cause. The LGBTQ movement was transformed by this and it started the battle for equal rights in America and then all around the world. The Stonewall Uprising created multiple LGBTQ organisations that helped protect and stand up for the community both socially and politically. 

   A name that we need to remember when this uprising is spoke of is Marsha P. Johnson. She was an African-American gay liberation transgender activist and pioneer who was a prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising.  Johnson helped lead the rebellion, spoke out about her story and experiences that helped other people come out too. She then founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries with her friend Sylvia Rivera to help the community even further. 

   A year after the Stonewall riots, the first LGBTQ pride marches happened in New York and other cities around the United States. The first march in 1970 joined the community to remember what happened at Stonewall; it allowed thousands of LGBTQ members to get together to show that they will not take the abuse any longer.

   Pride month itself became LGBTQ History Month, officially founded in 1994 by a Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. It provides education, role models and emphasises how the community is supportive and stronger together. It now should be used for education into the community and how we can do better.

   There is much more to the origins and history of the LGBTQ community than just the Stonewall riots and the history month. But here is a good place to start so now it is up to you to dive in deeper to find where you fit into this community and what can relate to you.
 

2. Reasons Why We Need Pride

   We came a far way from the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan in 1969 but not as far as some would think. Same-sex marriage is only legal in 29 out of 195 countries. Sixty-nine countries have laws that criminalise homosexuality, and there is still the death penalty in some countries.

   There is a massive argument with same-sex couple adoption which is only legal in 44 countries, and 152 countries are somewhere between for example married couples only, or stepchild adoption only, and then it is illegal in 26.

   The right to change gender is only legal in 84 countries and then there is a somewhere in between, as you can only legally change your gender when you have surgery in 42 more. It is illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity in only 77 countries, then some have no protections written in law to help this community. 

   LGBTQ+ members are five times more likely to attempt suicide before the age of 25, are bullied, called slurs, feel unsafe in school, are in an un-welcome living environment, and so much more. These statistics are heartbreaking due to the very fact, the reason for their sadness is for showing people who they really are. Something has to be done in order to change this.

   There is a need for representation on our screens, in sports and places of power. We need to normalise seeing LGBTQ members in these positions; even if you are not part of this community, you can encourage this to happen.

   What would you do if no one cared for you? If you couldn't marry who you want? If you couldn't adopt a child or people treat you different for something that just simply is? The hard fact for so many people of the LGBTQ community is that we have to fight for something that is naturally given to others.

   Humans are getting their rights taken away. Pride brings comfort to the members when society does not.  It normalises what already should be ordinary and provides a time and place for people to feel ok to be genuinely them.

  The community deserves respect. It's a time to celebrate people who they are; it is where people who are part of this community can be their most authentic selves unapologetically.    

  3. What can you do to contribute?

   Be an ally and a good one.

   Sign every petition you can, it takes two minutes to sign, and it can make a difference. Stand up for someone within the community or call people out when you see discrimination or saying something they may deem as ignorant but is definitely is homophobic.

   In a nutshell, call your friends out when they describe something as gay. Call your parents out for saying they can't watch a tv show because a trans guy is kissing someone nonbinary. If you know someone who goes by they/them, he/him, she/her, and you hear another person getting these pronouns wrong, then correct them!

   It is something as simple as this that can change the narrative that affects the community's younger members. Educate yourself in all aspects. If you are either new to the community or a new ally, the internet is a powerful tool; try not to use a member of the LGBTQ community as your personal search engine. If you already know this person, then have a conversation; ask if it is ok but if you can use google first, see if you can find an answer to your question there.

   Please educate yourself on the history, the struggle, everything this community has been through to get where we are today. It doesn't have to be this daunting process but follow an LGBTQ page on Instagram or Twitter or Tiktok; social media is such a colossal tool now, so make the most of it. Then once you do follow those pages, learn some new stuff about the community, and share this information (you do not have to), but something as simple as a share could show solidarity and help educate someone else who may not be clear.

   You can be as involved as you want to. If you can only do it at an online level that that is ok. But if you can go out, protest when you can, go volunteer with the community then that is great too.

   If you want to be genuinely active, then look into small businesses run by LGBTQ. Look into supporting actors/singers/people/brands in power who are part of the community or a notable good ally. You can stand against hate through any means of what you can.
 
   We need to hold companies that flew the flag and people accountable for their actions. It cannot be as simple as one-month activism. Rainbow capitalism targets the inclusion of the community to sell more products; this is not good enough. We cannot accept that people only care about the community when it benefits them and then forgets as soon as it's over.

    The LGBTQ community still do not have equal rights, still get targeted, abused and very little representation where it matters. This narrative is damaging to the youth, it is damaging to humans and is not fair. We have made progress but not enough, if there are still countries in the world that homosexuality can be punishable by death then we need to do more. Remembering the origins of pride, the reasons we need pride and what you can do is a good place to start to help strive for equality.