New York: June is Pride Month, when the world’s LGBTQ community come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves.
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.
The catalyst for Pride is actually a riot—the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Uprising took place in New York City in USA. At the time, the NY police would frequently raid queer bars and harass the queer community. Back then, the American Constitution also had laws banning homosexuality.
One of the most popular gay bars, Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn was raided frequently too. However, on that particular day in June, all hell broke loose when the queer community fought back and protested hard for several days. This changed the world forever, for the better.
The following year, the first official Pride parade was carried out on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, with Christopher Street Liberation Day and the tradition has continued till date.
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.
A subset of flags represent other sexualities on the spectrum, such as bisexual, pansexual and asexual.
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