Pride Month

One night on June 28, 1969, the history of the world as we knew it would change when a marginalized group of individuals decided to fight back against oppression and fight for their rights. June is marked as pride month, a month which celebrates the beauty and joy of what it means to be different, what it means to be queer. But what started Pride Month, and why do we celebrate it?

During the 60s, any form of queer celebration and gathering was seen as illegal and would often lead to several arrests and shut downs by the police. The idea of queerness was seen as something immoral and illegal to the eye of the public so a lot of queer spaces had to go underground to prevent any police complaints. On June 28, 1969, the police were tipped off about a queer gathering in the Stonewall Inn. Amid the chaos, a brick was thrown through the stonewall inn, and riots ensued. While it is not clear as to who threw the brick, some stating that it was the transgender and lesbian communities, two individuals rose to become the face of the queer liberation movement. These two individuals were Marsha P Johnson and Silvia Rivera. The Stonewall riots kicked off one of the biggest and most important social movements in the fight for equality and freedom.

From that month onwards, every June was seen as Pride Month. A month where you could be proud of all your differences and ability to express who it is that you love. The term Pride Month was first coined by Mayor Eric L. Johnson has also declared the month of June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the City of Dallas. The month slowly became a month of observance all over the world, with many countries hosting parades, and many individuals providing platforms to individuals to share their stories and express themselves.

But the road to liberation was not easy. With many countries and regions still regarding homosexuality and queerness as illegal. In India, homosexuality was seen as illegal under section 377 for many years. In 2018, section 377 was officially repealed over allowing individuals to take one step further to a brighter future. In October 2023, the fight for gay marriage took a setback when the Supreme Court declined to recognize gay marriage and civil unions. However, the fight for queer equality has never slowed down.

Pride month is a month that commemorates the struggle and the fight for queer rights. And as the world continues to grow and evolve, the need for equality is much more apparent. Beyond, the rainbows, the bright colours, the parades, and everything associated with the LGBTQ+ community, we look at the ones we lost through events such as the AIDS crisis, several deaths in countries that have declared queerness to be illegal and more, and ensure the protection of the most vulnerable members of the queer community including trans women, queer children, and more.

Let Pride month be a shining example of the human will to fight for what’s right and demand what is truly theirs. And beyond pride month, we must work to ensure that all our queer siblings are safe and protected.