Pride Month: Identifying the Power of Pride

James Baldwin once said that “Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” This quote accurately describes why and how we celebrate Pride month every year.?

What is Pride Month??

Every year, the entire month of June is recognized as "Pride Month." Throughout this month, people from all across the globe show their support for the LGBTQ community, i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. This month is celebrated with great enthusiasm in several cities across the world where people come together and participate in pride parades, protests, drag performances, live theater, and memorials. The movement recognizes and promotes sexual diversity, equal rights, self-affirmation, and dignity of the community, with the goal of increasing society’s awareness of the issues they face.

The History of Pride Month?

In 1924, human rights activist Henry Gerber founded the first gay rights organization in the USA with the aim of breaking stereotypes and tabos about homosexuality. Henry was arrested multiple times by police officials for his work. On one fine morning 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. This incident gained a lot of media coverage and brought the issues faced by LGBTQ people into the limelight. Later on, many people and human rights activists came together and supported the LGBTQ community. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.?

In 2015, the Stonewall Inn was declared a historic landmark by the city of New York and later named a national monument by President Barack Obama in 2016.?

Leaders of Pride Month?

In addition to Henry Gerver, there have been many other social activists and leaders who have actively participated and fought for the rights of LGBTQ people. Some of those leaders are listed below-

• Marsha P. Johnson is often credited with throwing the first punch at the Stonewall Inn. She was a black trans woman celebrating her 25th birthday at the time of the riots and a tour de force in the gay community. She died in 1992 at just 46 years old after police found her body in the Hudson River—her death was initially ruled a suicide, despite friends and loved ones insisting that could not be the case.
• Sylvia Rivera was an activist and self-professed drag queen who also played a part in the Stonewall Riots. She fought for transgender rights alongside Marsha P. Johnson, creating S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) to help house homeless LGBTQ youth. She advocated for transgender rights until her death in 2002.
• Stormé DeLarverie was a gay rights activist and drag performer who was also at Stonewall when it was raided that night.

What is the Pride symbol??

The rainbow flag is popularly used as a symbol of LGBTQ pride. This flag was created by artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 and is a bright and attractive six-color flag. Every color on the flag has its own meaning. Starting with red, it is a symbol 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 and art.

There have been many variations on the flag. In 2021, the flag was altered in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests, including black to represent diversity, brown to represent inclusivity, and light blue and pink, the colors of the trans pride flag.

India’s involvement in Pride??

At the present time, there are around 28 countries in the world that have recognized same-sex marriages, whereas there are 69 countries that have laws that criminalize homesexuality. (Data fetched from BBC reports).?

In India, the LGBTQ community won its biggest battle on September 6, 2018, when the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a colonial-era ban on gay sex. The court ruled out section 377 of the IPC act that criminalized homesexuality. This judgement has made a huge difference in the lives of transgender people and others who were considered criminals for their sexual orientation in India. However, individuals from this community are still constant victims of inequality and prejudice in society. There is still a lot that needs to be done to bring about equality in India.?

Published? by www.bold.com