LGBTQ may be just a term for some, but for many, it's an identity, reality, conflict and a coming of age story. As we welcome Pride month, it's important to understand its significance.
June is regarded as the Pride month, starting June 1 till 30th. Pride Month is a significant event that commemorates the LGBT community's struggle for recognition and acceptance worldwide. While it is more broadly accepted today than ever, history is witness to widespread malice towards the queer community. Pride Month is an opportunity for everyone to be proud of who they are and what they have to offer to the world.
The LGBTQ+ movement and Pride Month has become one of the largest festivities in the United States, with its epicentre in New York City. Parades would begin around the streets of New York City, with people dressed in their best bright and proud attire to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community for all to see. The occasion is also observed in other countries. In fact, in India, such parades are marked on this event.
What happens during the Pride month?
Even though it has been observed for over 50 years, President Bill Clinton designated June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in 2000. In 2011, President Barack Obama extended the celebration to include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.
Celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia, concerts, and LGBT Pride Month events that draw millions worldwide. It is also common for memorials to be held during this month for community members who have died due to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.
While the celebration was limited to the US earlier, the entire world started celebrating Pride Month later with moving time.
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How did it all start?
Pride month was purposefully set in June to commemorate the Stonewall riots of 1968 in Manhattan, New York, in the US. The Stonewall Uprising, which took place on June 28, 1969, was a watershed moment in the United States' Gay Liberation Movement. The Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village was a gay club and refuge for many members of the LGBTQ community in the 1960s. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the inn, resulting in a riot between bar patrons, neighbourhood residents, and the cops. Hundreds of people were involved in the riot, which resulted in six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, neighbouring streets, and nearby Christopher Park.
Even when the LGBTQ+ lifestyle was considered taboo in the 1970s and 1980s, support for LGBTQ+ pride has slowly grown over several decades. During the 1990s and 2000s, as more people joined the movement and better knew what it meant to be homosexual, Pride Month became a more popular concept.
Vadodra to celebrate first Pride month
This year, Vadodra will be celebrating its first Pride month, the city will be coloured in all the different shades. Despite it being it's first, the arrangements have been made in such a way so that more people could participate and the community reaches out to a large number of people in an educational institute or a mall. This event will include fashion shows, a pride marathon and other cultural performances.
Like Vadodara, we believe that many small states and cities should also celebrate Pride month so that the LGBTQ community can live freely with all the equal rights and respect, after all, we are all part of the same human race.
