What is Pride Month?
Pride Month is an important opportunity for learning, amplifying marginalized voices, and reflecting on how we can make everyone feel included and treated fairly in our community. Also, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the progress and achievements of 2SLGBTQIA+ people throughout history.
People celebrate Pride in many places around the world. It is often commemorated in June with parades, special events, protests, educational resources and workshops, celebrations, conferences, advocacy work, memorials, and more.
Pride events in the Waterloo Region and surrounding areas include:
When did Pride Month start?
The first official Pride Month was in 1970 when thousands of 2SLGBTQ+ people gathered in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion and demonstrate for equal rights. In Canada, the first Pride demonstrations happened in Ottawa and Vancouver in 1971.
What was the Stonewall Rebellion?
The Stonewall Rebellion was a turning point in the history of 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. It began when police raided the Stonewall Inn, one of New York City’s most popular gay bars, on June 28, 1969. Homosexuality was still a criminal offence, and it was also a crime to serve alcohol to gay people. This meant many gay bars operated without a liquor license and were regularly subject to violent police raids. Police entered the bar and began interrogating the people inside, arresting and detaining several patrons and employees. Things escalated when the police used force to get a woman into the patrol car, and, tired of being subject to violence and discrimination the crowd outside began fighting back.
News of the Stonewall raid spread quickly throughout the city, with thousands of protesters gathering at the bar and in the surrounding area. Among these protesters were homeless 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, drag queens, lesbians, gays, transgender, and gender nonconforming people. The protests lasted for six days, inspiring radical activism and the creation of the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activist Alliance. A year later, thousands of people returned to The Stonewall Inn for the first Christopher Street Liberation Day march, later evolving into the Pride Parades that take place worldwide.
To learn more about the Stonewall Rebellion, click here.
Why is Pride Month Still Celebrated?
While considerable progress has been made in North America in advancing 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and empowering the community, there is still work to be done. There are still many countries where same-sex relationships, being transgender, or “cross-dressing” are illegal. Additionally, laws and protections for 2SLGBTQIA+ people are regressing in many countries, including the United States, and violence and bullying are on the rise against 2SLGBTQIA+ adults and youth. While advocacy work, demonstrations, and 2SLGBGTQIA+ days of significance happen throughout the year, Pride is an opportunity to call attention to issues affecting the community and mobilize people to demand change.
Pride Month also serves as a reminder of the achievements and sacrifices of past generations of 2SLGBTQIA+ people who fought back and changed the landscape for future generations. It provides an opportunity for the community to gather to celebrate its resilience, culture and visibility in a safe and accepting space.
Pride-Related Terms You Should Know
2SLGBTQIA+
2SLGBTQIA+ is a widely accepted acronym to refer to the community.
2S — Refers to Two-Spirit: An English term used to broadly capture concepts traditional to many Indigenous cultures. It is a culturally-specific identity used by some Indigenous people to indicate a person whose gender identity, spiritual identity and/or sexual orientation comprises both male and female spirits.
L — Refers to Lesbian: A woman who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to other women. Women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.
G — Refers to Gay: A person who is emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to members of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this term to describe themselves.
B — Refers to Bisexual: A person emotionally, romantically or sexually attracted to more than one sex, gender or gender identity though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way, or to the same degree. Sometimes used interchangeably with pansexual.
T — Refers to Transgender: An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc.
Q — Refers to Queer: A term people often use to express a spectrum of identities and orientations that are counter to the mainstream. Queer is often used as a catch-all to include many people, including those who do not identify as exclusively straight and/or folks who have non-binary or gender-expansive identities. This term was previously used as a slur but has been reclaimed by many parts of the LGBTQ+ movement. It can also refer to Questioning: A person who is uncertain about their sexual orientation and/or gender identity; this can be a transitory or a lasting identity.
Intersex — Intersex is a category that reflects a variation in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, or genitals that do not seem to fit into typical definitions of male or female.
Asexual — An asexual person is someone who may not experience sexual attraction to anyone, or has a low or absent interest in sexual activity.
+ — is inclusive of people who identify as part of sexual and gender-diverse communities, who use additional terminologies.
Gender Expression
External appearance of one’s gender identity, usually expressed through behavior, clothing, body characteristics or voice, and which may or may not conform to socially defined behaviors and characteristics typically associated with being either masculine or feminine.
Sexual Orientation
An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Note: an individual’s sexual orientation is independent of their gender identity.
Ally
A term used to describe someone who is actively supportive of 2SLGBTQIA+ people. It also encompasses straight and cisgender allies, as well as those within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who support each other (e.g., a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community).
Advocate
An advocate is someone who supports or promotes the interests of a cause or group. Advocates of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community add their voices and amplify the voices of others to achieve social and political change. Advocates take allyship one step further by being active participants.
You can find a comprehensive list of pride-related terms here!
Queer Icons and Trailblazers
Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson was a black transgender-rights activist, whose work in the 1960s and 1970s had a huge impact on the community. At this time, being part of the community was classified as a mental illness in the United States. In June 1969, when Marsha was 23 years old, police raided a gay bar in New York called The Stonewall Inn. The police forced over 200 people out of the bar and onto the streets, and then used excessive violence against them.
Marsha was one of the key figures who stood up to the police during the raids. Marsha resisted arrest and in the following days, led a series of protests and riots demanding rights for gay people. News of these protests spread around the world, inspiring others to join protests and rights groups to fight for equality.
Freddy Mercury
Freddie Mercury was the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Queen. Despite never officially coming out or labelling his sexuality, Freddie was openly and unapologetically queer, having relationships with both men and women throughout his life. Freddie’s flamboyance and confident self-expression contributed to visibility and acceptance of queer people in the 1970s and 80s.
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an entertainer of the highest order, a deeply troubled movie star, and, even during her lifetime, a gay icon. It was her famous performance of Dorothy in the wizard of oz that coined the code “Friend of Dorothy,” referencing her The Wizard of Oz character. Coming out is often difficult even today, but throughout much of the twentieth century it could have dire legal and social consequences. During the years before greater openness and understanding, members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community sometimes resorted to coded speech or behavior as a safeguard.
Kent Monkman
Kent Monkman is a Two-Spirit Cree visual artist who explores themes of colonization, sexuality, loss, and resilience—the complexities of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences—across painting, film/video, performance, and installation. He has received awards for his contributions to the advancement of issues around sexual identification and for his contributions to the advancement of issues around sexual identification and was given the title of Grand Marshal for Toronto Pride in 2017.
RuPaul
A pioneer of queer representation and the first drag artist to host their own national talk show, RuPaul has made great strides for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. He has secured global exposure for up-and-coming drag queens and uses his platform to discuss important topics, like female empowerment and racial discrimination.
Support and Resources for 2SLGBTQ+ Students