There has been a recent upsurgence of people identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, with more people becoming less scared to come out. To celebrate the community, every year in June, the U.S. celebrates Pride Month. Pride Month is where we celebrate and bring awareness to the LGBTQ+. This year it begins on Saturday, June 1st to Sunday, June 30th, with International LGBT Pride Day being on June 28.
Here are some events around the area of Maryland and some history behind this month and what Pride is.
Events in the Area
In Washington DC, a non-profit organization Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) has major events planned for the upcoming month. Here are some of them.
- May 31: Capital Pride Honors at MGM National Harbor
- June 8: Capital Pride in Washington DC
- June 9: Capital Pride Festival in Washington DC
If you don’t want to go to the DC area, there are also plenty of events in different Maryland cities. Here are some of them.
- June 2: Rockville Pride
- June 13: Westminster Pride Festival
- June 13-16th: Baltimore Pride Month
What is Pride?
Pride is celebrating people as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. It promotes equality and giving voice to the community.
The LGBTQ+ means
- Lesbian
- Gay
- Bisexual
- Transgender
- Questioning/Queer
- And more
Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall uprising and helps with the fight for equal rights for the community.
History of Pride Month
The first Pride Parades were held in 1970’s in June, in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Around thousands of people gathered to fight for equal rights and to remember the Stonewall Riots.
Then 1999, President Bill Clinton had declared that the anniversary of the Stonewall riots will be commemorated every June in the U.S as the Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
This was a big step forward, but in these early celebrations many people were excluded. Transgender people and others were excluded as people weren’t accepting even if some of the figures from the stonewall riots were transgender themselves.
Then finally in 2011 President Barack Obama expanded the officially recognized Pride Month to include everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.
Pride Month is not only a celebration of the community but also a demonstration of people fighting for their rights. To this day, people discriminate and legislation against them has also been growing. So this is to continue to fight for equal rights and against discrimination.
