Pride Month Primer and Six Ways to Show Your Support

Pride Month started with the Stonewall Uprising in New York City on June 28, 1969. The Uprising followed a police invasion of a gay club in Greenwich Village. At the time, “masquerading as a member of the opposite sex was a crime” and the majority of the people at Stonewall were either drag queens or people of color, according to USA Today.

The “Stonewall Riots sparked a shift and increase in LBGTQ activism,” said USA Today.

You may know it is Pride Month by seeing an increase of rainbow flags in your neighborhood and on businesses and by companies touting their support for inclusivity and diversity. The rainbow flag was created in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker.

But in 2017, the city of Philadelphia redesigned the Pride flag to include the colors bron and black to promote diversity and inclusion and to “honor the lives of our Black and brown LGBTQ siblings,” Philadelphia said in a press release.

We, at Whole Champion Foundation, believe in diversity and inclusion and we celebrate Pride Month. And we have the following suggestions for ways you, too, can promote love and celebrate Pride.

6 Ways to Celebrate Pride Month:

• Fly a Pride flag at your house. This is one way to show your support for your LGBTQ+ family members, neighbors, and whole community. You can choose the traditional rainbow flag, the Philadelphia flag, the trans flag, the lesbian flag or any variations as many exist.
• Attend a Pride parade or festival. Most cities host Pride parade and festivals during June. For example, the one in Los Angeles is on June 11.

  

• Familiarize yourself with definitions and slang commonly used by the LGBTQ+ community. These include knowing what each of the letters in the acronym LGBTQ+ or LGBTQIA stand for, as well as understanding the difference between gender and sex and knowing the possibilities of sexual orientations and embracing the idea that if you are heterosexual, you are automatically privileged historically in our society and right now.
• Shop at retailers who support the LBGTQ+ community, such as at A Tribe Called Queer, Adidas, DSW, Apple, Bombas, Fossil, Reebok, Bath and Body Works, Banana Republic, Choose Love, The Body Shop, Converse, Ralph Lauren, Target, Teva, and more.
• Visit sites like the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, Henry Gerber House in Chicago, and Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco. A long list of places can be found on the National Park Service website. And the beauty of all of these places is that each will increase your understanding of LBGTQ+ history.
• Support nonprofit organizations such as:
• The Oath, founded by Pattie Gonia, Teresa Baker, and Jose Gonzalez, is “designed as a way for any outdoorist or outdoor community to think about the intersections of planet, inclusion, and adventure…”
• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LBGTQ young people 24/7, all year long. It’s the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ people.
• Human Rights Campaign Foundation seeks to fundamentally change the way LGBTQ+ people are treated in their everyday lives.
• PFLAG provides support, information, and resources for LGBTQ+ people, their parents and families, and allies. It was founded in 1973 and has more than 400 chapters.
• National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. They work to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
• Family Equality Council’s mission is to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change
• SAGE provides advocacy and services for LGBTQ+ elders and their motto is “We refuse to be invisible.” They offer a hotline, have a wellness platform, have a phone buddy program and much more.
• GLSEN was founded by a group of teachers in 1990 to support K-12 LGBTQ+ students. The organization conducts original research and creates developmentally appropriate resources for educators and they support student-led movements such as Day of Silence and Ally Week. They have 43 chapters in 30 states and over 1.5 million members.

  

While the list we have provided isn’t exhaustive, it is a start of the national organizations that support LGBTQ+ people during Pride Month and every month and day.

So educate yourself on the history of Pride and show your love and support this June and always.