7 Fun Facts of Pride Month’s History

How are you doing today, lovelies! Enjoying Pride Month so far? As you may be aware, June is the month when the LGBTQ+ community takes the streets with the famous parades. A beautiful way to keep raising awareness and visibility. But not always was this way nor is there everything there is to Pride Month.

Our community has faced adversity and discrimination since always and still is. So for today’s article, I selected a series of fun facts you may not know about this beautiful time of the year. Join me in this leisure reading and learn something new about LGBTQ+ history!

Pride Month Commemorates the Stonewall Riots

June wasn’t randomly picked to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride. On the night of June 28th, 1969, a spark ignited in Manhattan. The final drop that filled the glass after years of abuse and discrimination. In the 60s, New York wasn’t the most gay-friendly city in the world. Nonetheless, Stonewall was and still is, a nightclub that was a safe haven for the community. Everyone is welcome there and even featured drag queen shows often. That night, ridiculous as it sounds, the Public Moral Squad raided the place. Typical discrimination and abuse were in order form part of these “officers” until the crowd had enough. Things started to heat up and reached the boiling point. The gay community that was partying at the place moments before the riot kicked the police out of the place. They continued to chase them down the streets! It’s an amazing story and you can learn more about it in this other article!

The First Pride Flag Appeared in 1978

Nowadays, you can see the Pride colors on display in many places. From places to stickers, products, and merchandising. But the first record of the use of these colors and pattern was in 1978. It was invented by Gilbert Baker and was made public on the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day the same year. As you may realize, the flag caught on and it became what it is now. Nonetheless, it changed over the years and with time, every gender identity created a flag more specific for their community. In fact, The first Pride flag had eight colors! Pink and turquoise were also present on it! Due to manufacturing costs, eventually, they were dropped to make production more accessible for everyone.

Each Color in the Pride Flag Has Meaning

When the first flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, each color had a meaning. Pink represented freedom of sexuality. Red meant the life we all have the right to live. Green was for nature and our connection with it. The yellow color was for the sunlight and being visible. Orange meant the healing of past wounds of years of discrimination. Turquoise was for the magic and art of the community. Violet represents the spirit of us all. Indigo or blue represented serenity and harmony. So there you go! Now you know what the eight original colors stood for!

The First Pride March Has a Mother

Brenda Howard is the name of the heroine who had the idea of marching to commemorate the Stonewall Riots and raise awareness. She’s bisexual and has been an activist all her life. The first march was only a year after the incidents on Stonewall. Brenda felt the urge of marching on the streets to reclaim the rights that tried to be taken from the community the year before. The gay community of New York took the streets alongside advocates in what was called the “Cristopher Street Liberation Day March”.

A Rainbow-Colored Record

In 1994, to commemorate the events of the Stonewall Riots, Gilbert Baker received a rather extreme request. A mile-long and thirty feet-wide rainbow flag! The designer of the flag used the six-color pattern that we see nowadays. For many years it was confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest flag in the world! It has lost its title since then. Nonetheless, there is still another and a bigger rainbow flag. The same man that created the original design, was in charge of the production of a mile-and-quarter long rainbow flaw that stretched across Key West, Florida.

The Biggest Pride Parade Is in Brazil

Speaking of records, the largest Pride Parade that you can find today takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Even though it started with roughly 2000 attendees in 1997, it has grown immensely since then. In 2006 the Guinness Book of World Records estimated 2.5 million activists present! To put things in pèrspective, San Francisco’s Parade has roughly 1.7 million and the other 2 million in New York! Over half a million more than in Manhattan! Also, with their characteristic charisma, Brazilians hold their parades very much in the style of their traditional carnivals. You can check it out for yourself looking for videos on the Internet!

Pride Is Not Only About Parades

As you know by now, the first marches had, and still do, a deeper meaning. In its origins, marching for the rights of the community was a necessity. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, it still is. The LGBTQ+ community suffers from discrimination and in some places, there is a death penalty for being gay or lesbian. So it is no surprise that the movement quickly took on many parts of the globe. But there is much to be done yet. Pride is not only a form of expression, it is a worldwide fight for freedom and rights. So let’s all take our part in it however it is within our reach.

So these are seven little fun facts about the history of Pride Month. I hope you have enjoyed and learned something new. Also, I want to wish a very Happy Pride Month to you all, sweeties! May the future of humanity be more full of love, peace, acceptance, and understanding than there is today. I know it will be a tough ride but a worthy one! Let’s all be part of a brighter future! See you soon!