Pride Month
- Aditya Patil
- May 31, 2022
- 2 min read
History
Contrary to the beliefs of some, the fight for LGBTQ+ rights was not something that
started recently, but has actually gone on for nearly a century. It started in 1924, when Henry Gerber founded the Society of Human Rights in Chicago. This was when it technically began, but the main event that sparked this movement to the prevalence it now holds happened decades after what occurred in Chicago. In June of 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn at NYC’s Greenwich Village, harassing and arresting members of the LGBTQ community. Some months later, the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations in Philadelphia scheduled a march to take place exactly a year after the Stonewall Inn incident, with their slogan being “gay power.” Starting with only a few hundred marchers, it ended with thousands of people marching over 50 blocks chanting their slogans. This led to LGBTQ Pride being celebrated on the last Sunday in June, but later expanded to last an entire month. This was first officially recognized by President Bill Clinton in 1999, when he declared June to be Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. President Obama later proclaimed June as LGBT Pride Month, and President Biden has now expanded the title to LGBTQ+ Pride Month. That is the rich history of this month.
LGBTQIA2S+ Explained
L (Lesbian) - Homosexual (Women).
G (Gay) - Homosexual (Men).
B (Bisexual) - Attracted to both men and women.
T (Transgender) - A gender identity that doesn’t correspond with one’s birth-assigned
gender.
Q (Queer) - Neither heterosexual nor cisgender.
I (Intersex) - Born with biological traits outside of the male/female gender binary. Ex:
Turners Syndrome, Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, Klinefelter's Syndrome, etc.
A (Asexual) - Nonsexual.
2S (Two-Spirit) - Indigenous natives who express their gender/sexual identities as
different from others.
+ - The plus at the end of LGBTQIA2S+ represents other sexual identities, such as
pansexual.
How you can help
There are many different ways to support people who identify as LGBTQ+. The first is to just understand the issues. If you don’t know what they suffer and go through, it will be harder to empathize with them. One of the main ways to help is to either donate your time or money to their cause. Even if it is not much, anything can help to advocate for them and their fight for acceptance and equal rights. Also, try your best not to assume. Instead of assuming someone’s gender or sexual orientation, you can instead ask them for their pronouns or how they identify as. Also, if someone comes to you talking about people disliking them for being LGBTQ+ or giving them trouble about it, you should try your best to listen and help them feel more safe. Lastly, create a safe space. This is so important to people who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, as they have more than likely dealt with environments where they were judged or hated for who they are. I hope you will implement some of what you learned to help during pride month and beyond.
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