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VietnameseJune is Pride Month and Wayne Metro is eager to celebrate the uniqueness, individuality, and unconditional love this community brings to our daily lives. Pride represents awareness, recognition, and continual progress towards equity and justice for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Origin of Pride
Pride began to honor the Stonewall Riots. This demonstration happened in June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. At that time, laws were in place that allowed businesses and establishments to openly discriminate against the gay community.
In response to a police raid, Stonewall’s patrons fought back against those imposing an anti-gay legal system. Serving as the catalyst for the gay liberation movement, this event is a landmark in LGBTQIA+ rights.
In the years following, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco were among the first cities to adopt the gay pride parade as an annual event. This inspired the creation of gay rights organizations all across the United States and beyond.
Pride was officially recognized by Bill Clinton in 1999, and in 2009, Barack Obama declared June as the official Pride Month.
What is LGBTQIA+?
- L is for Lesbian. This is a female-identifying person who is attracted to another female-identifying person.
- B is for Bisexual. Someone who is attracted to more than one gender.
- G is for Gay. This is a male-identifying person who is attracted to another male-identifying person.
- T is for Transgender. This is someone whose gender identity/expression does not conform to the sex they were assigned at birth. Having to do with gender and not sexuality, transgender people may identity as other LGBQIA+ terms.
- Q is for Queer or Questioning. Referring to anyone who is not straight or cisgender, queer is an umbrella term in the community for those who don’t wish to use labels. Questioning is a term for those who are not sure about how they identify.
- I is for Intersex — referring to people who naturally have biological traits which don’t match what is typically identified as male or female.
- A is for Asexual/Aromantic or Ally. Another umbrella term, asexual is for those who do not experience attraction to others. Ally encompasses those who identify as cisgender and straight, but support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Who Has Made Significant Contributions?
Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” is a pioneer for the pride parade tradition. Brenda is credited for the first pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Need Resources?
Here are some great resources for those in the LGBTQIA+ Community