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What 'Gay Pride' Really Means
(06/27/2006) by Elizabeth Schroeder
June was LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States. Throughout the month, across the United States, marches, demonstrations, parades, and other events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals took place. Thanks to the media, many people’s sole image of LGBTQ Pride is a parade filled with floats, blasting loud music while astonishingly attractive men and women dance with abandon. This is certainly a major part of the celebrations that take place during Pride month, but it doesn’t represent everyone who’s there – or everything that LGBTQ people have to celebrate. What we don’t see as much of, for example, are the same-sex parents with their children, the police officers and firefighters who risk discrimination and ostracization by being out at work, the older LGBTQ individuals who are rendered virtually invisible within their communities, or the heterosexual allies marching alongside LGBTQ family and friends. Pride parades are about all aspects of the many LGBTQ communities –- and Pride month itself is about much more than parades. And what people celebrate during Pride deserves much more than the limited pomp it receives.
The fight for equal rights for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities has been around for decades. Work had been done on gay rights throughout the world in different cities on local levels, with an almost non-stop rollercoaster ride of gains and losses, until an event took place in New York City in 1969 that many people see as the catalyst for the gay rights movement. In the United States in the first half of the 20th century, there were a growing number of lesbian and gay bars – which meant they were routinely raided by police. During these raids, LGBTQ people were arrested, humiliated, and brutalized because of who they were. Drag queens and kings, trans people, and gay people of color were especially targeted. In June of 1969, an icon of the gay community, Judy Garland, died and many LGBTQ people gathered in bars and other public places to pay tribute to her. The night after she died, a particularly large gathering of LGBTQ people were at and outside of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village – and although it is debated how the riot started, it is thought that as the routine raid began and people were being take into custody for no other reason than being queer, the onlookers had simply had had enough, and fought back. (Many people credit Judy Garland’s death for enabling a large enough group to gather in one place to stage this uprising, while others see it as a simple coincidence.) Regardless, the riot forced the small number of police officers present into the Stonewall Inn, where they stayed barricaded until other police forces came to rescue them. Additional riots then took place the next night.
This event, and the ongoing work of brave individuals and inspiring organizations, has continued to give LGBTQ individuals voices that are being heard socially, politically, professionally, and spiritually throughout the country and world – and these voices are getting louder. People have come to realize that the needs of transgender people – the “T” in LGBTQ – are unique, and therefore need unique attention. Since being transgender is about one’s gender identity, not one’s sexual orientation, the limited legislation applying to people of non-heterosexual orientations gives no protection to people of diverse gender identities unless gender identity itself is expressly mentioned. Part of the work of LGBTQ organizations and individuals and allies, therefore, has been to expand further non-discrimination policies in organizations, schools, and the political arena to include gender identity. In some circles, LGBTQ has been expanding to include “I,” or intersex individuals, who face issues that are unique from lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender individuals. Much progress has been made, but there is much work yet to be done around equal rights, including such arenas as marriage, adopting children, domestic partnership legislation, and combating discrimination and hate crimes. Fighting for a cause in which one believes is a key part of LGBTQ Pride.
So is the presence of people who identify as LGBTQ. Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of LGBTQ Pride today is the rainbow – you may have seen flags, stickers, buttons, jewelry and more with this symbol. Designed in 1978 in (where else?) San Francisco, the flag originally had 8 stripes of different colors, with each color representing a different concept for the artist who designed it: Hot pink stood for sexuality, red represented life, orange was healing, yellow as for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. Shortly after this first rainbow flag was designed, lack of materials required a change to the colors, and we now see the standard rainbow flags without pink or turquoise, and with blue representing indigo.
Webster’s dictionary offers what I found to be two wonderful definitions of the word “pride” – “a reasonable or justifiable self-respect,” and “delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship.” LGBTQ Pride embodies both of these concepts. It’s about respecting oneself, even in the face of negativity, degradation, and violence. It’s about participating in some action that makes a statement about who one is – whether that action is as major as rioting at Stonewall, as simple as holding hands with a same-sex partner while walking down the street, or as quietly courageous as being out to oneself or a limited number of people when living in a particularly conservative community. Whether on a large or small scale, LGBTQ Pride embodies a shared history of courage, survival, and celebration – as well as optimistic hope for a better future.
For more information on LGBTQ Pride and countless other aspects of queer life and history, visit www.glbtq.com, from which some of the information in this piece has been adapted.
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