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It’s Pride Month. Here’s what you need to know
By Ayana Archie and Brandon Griggs, CNN
Published 8:14 AM EDT, Wed June 1, 2022
People participate in the San Francisco Pride parade in San Francisco, California on June 25, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Josh Edelson (Photo credit should read JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)
Cities celebrate Gay Pride Month
01:02 - Source: CNN
CNN
—
June is Pride Month, when the world’s LGBT communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves.

Pride gatherings are rooted in the arduous history of minority groups who have struggled for decades to overcome prejudice and be accepted for who they are.

The original organizers chose this month to pay homage to the Stonewall uprising in June 1969 in New York City, which helped spark the modern gay rights movement. Most Pride events take place each year in June, although some cities hold their celebrations at other times of the year.

Who celebrates it?
A participant from Venezuela takes part in Berlin's annual gay pride parade in 2017.
A participant from Venezuela takes part in Berlin's annual gay pride parade in 2017.
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP/Getty Images
Pride events are geared toward anyone who feels like their sexual identity falls outside the mainstream – although many straight people join in, too.

LGBT is an acronym meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The term sometimes is extended to LGBTQ, or even LGBTQIA, to include queer, intersex and asexual groups. Queer is an umbrella term for non-straight people; intersex refers to those whose sex is not clearly defined because of genetic, hormonal or biological differences; and asexual describes those who don’t experience sexual attraction.

These terms may also include gender fluid people, or those whose gender identity shifts over time or depending on the situation.

How did it start?
People celebrate outside the historic Stonewall Inn during the New York Pride March on June 27, 2021, in New York City.
People celebrate outside the historic Stonewall Inn during the New York Pride March on June 27, 2021, in New York City.
Roy Rochlin/Getty Images North America/Getty Images
In the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, and began hauling customers outside. Tensions quickly escalated as patrons resisted arrest and a growing crowd of bystanders threw bottles and coins at the officers. New York’s gay community, fed up after years of harassment by authorities, broke out in neighborhood riots that went on for three days.

The uprising became a catalyst for an emerging gay rights movement as organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance were formed, modeled after the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement. Members held protests, met with political leaders and interrupted public meetings to hold those leaders accountable. A year after the Stonewall riots, the nation’s first Gay Pride marches were held.

In 2016 the area around the Stonewall Inn, still a popular nightspot today, was designated a national monument.

Where did the Pride name come from?
Members and allies of the LGBTQ community march on June 12, 2021, in Washington.
Members and allies of the LGBTQ community march on June 12, 2021, in Washington.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
It’s credited to Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” who organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.

What’s the origin of the rainbow flag?
Gay pride flag
Eric Thayer/Getty Images
In 1978, artist and designer Gilbert Baker was commissioned by San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk – one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US – to make a flag for the city’s upcoming Pride celebrations. Baker, a prominent gay rights activist, gave a nod to the stripes of the American flag but drew inspiration from the rainbow to reflect the many groups within the gay community.

Baker, a prominent gay rights activist, gave a nod to the stripes of the American flag but drew inspiration from the rainbow to reflect the many groups within the gay community.

A subset of flags represent other sexualities on the spectrum, such as bisexual, pansexual and asexual.

Can I participate in Pride events if I’m not LGBT?
Kamala Harris, then California's attorney general, rides in San Francisco's Pride parade in 2016.
Kamala Harris, then California's attorney general, rides in San Francisco's Pride parade in 2016.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Sure. Pride events welcome allies from outside the LGBT community. They are opportunities to show support, to observe, listen and be educated.

This story was first published in 2018.

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