7 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Pride Month
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Since the 1970s, the LGBTQ+ community has been celebrating the month of June as Pride Month. It is a time when those who identify as LGBTQ+ come together (along with their allies) to break free from heteronormative constraints and be themselves. June is the month where everyone has the chance to bring out the most colorful outfits in their wardrobes and celebrate and express themselves with aplomb. The Pride parades that we celebrate every year actually have a rich and long history. So grab onto your rainbow flag, don that colorful makeup and get your Pride face on. From the Stonewall riots to the creation and meaning behind the flag, here are seven incredible facts about Pride that you might not have known about:
1. Pride Parades Were Inspired By The Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of demonstrations by those belonging to the LGBTQ community that were in response to police brutality. The police raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan during the morning hours of June 28, 1969, and started harassing the LGBTQ patrons. When the police became violent, the people fought back. These riots were considered a significant contributor to the fight for LGBTQ rights. One year later, in 1970, thousands of New Yorkers who identified as LGBTQ marched from Greenwich Village to Central Park. They chanted, “Say it clean, say it loud! Gay is good, gay is proud!”. The success of this march, called the Christopher Street Liberation Day march, led to many celebrating Pride marches.
2. For A Period Of Time, The Rainbow Flag Was The World’s Largest Flag
In 1994, to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the original maker of the Rainbow Flag, Gilbert Baker, was commissioned to make the largest rainbow flag in the world. The flag was created using the popular six-stripe design and measured about thirty feet wide. It was even confirmed as the largest flag in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records. However, it lost the title in 2003 after Baker made another gigantic rainbow flag in Key West, Florida in the year 2003.
3. Pride Parades Weren’t Always Called Pride
Pride parades weren’t always referred to as Pride parades. When they first began, they were often more militant and just called marches. Instead of being called Pride parades, they were referred to as “Gay Liberation” movements. In the 1980s and 1990s, as LGBTQ folk received more attention, they started referring to these movements as Pride parades. In a way, it is to show that they have pride in their identities and orientation—something they were barred from expressing in the past.
4. The Mother Of Pride Swang For Both Teams
Brenda Howard was called the “Mother of Pride” thanks to her work in organizing the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. She was someone who was attracted to both men and women and is credited as laying the foundation for modern-day Pride parades. In fact, we have Brenda to thank for everything related to the original LGBTQ Pride parades.
5. The Rainbow Flag Was Designed In 1978
If you have ever wondered what the meaning of the rainbow pride flag is, it holds a lot of meaning to it. The original flag was flown at the Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, California, in 1978. It was designed by Gilbert Baker and hand-dyed and stitched by around thirty volunteers. According to Baker, each color of the flag represents different things. For example, hot pink represents passion, red illustrates life, orange means healing, yellow represents sunlight, green represents nature, turquoise represents art and magic, indigo represents harmony and serenity, and violet represents spirit.
6. The World’s Largest Pride Parade Was Held In Brazil In 2011
In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Gay Pride started with a mere two thousand attendees in 1997. However, that number has now grown to millions of people. In the year 2006, the Guinness Book of World Records had named Sao Paulo’s parade as the biggest celebration in the world. The parade has around two and a half million attendees. Thus, São Paulo still holds the title for the biggest pride parade to date. Of course, other pride parades are not too far behind. Like, San Francisco and New York, who aren’t too far behind Sao Paulo as they have 1.7 million and 2 million participants, respectively.
7. India’s First Pride Parade Was Held In Kolkata In 1999
The first Pride Parade that was held in India was held in Kolkata on July 2, 1999. It was called the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk and is the oldest Pride march in South Asia. Although participants came from different parts of the country, like Bangalore and Mumbai, there were still only fifteen of them, and they all identified as male. The parade was also referred to as the Friendship Walk and was held in Kolkata due to Kolkata’s rich history with human rights movements. People living in Kolkata have a rich history of fighting for women’s rights, the rights of disabled folks, Dalit rights, and child rights.
During the LGBTQ+ Pride Month, it’s essential that we recognize the determination and resilience of those fighting to live their authentic and free lives. For the Indian LGBTQ+ community, 2018 was a brilliant year as the archaic and regressive section 377 was struck down. Thanks to this, LGBTQ+ folk got to march the streets as free citizens!
