Know the history of Pride

Did you know that the annual month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community was once “Gay Pride Day,” observed on the last Sunday of June?

Every June, Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan — a “tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States,” according to the Library of Congress.

Stonewall National Monument in NYC

Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman, is credited with throwing “the shot glass heard around the world” on June 28, 1969, signifying the beginning of the Stonewall Uprising in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City. Following the raid, Johnson and others — including her friend Sylvia Rivera, a Latinx gay liberation and transgender rights activist — led a series of protests against the raid.

One year later, the first Pride march took place. Johnson and Rivera also went on to start an activist organization, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), to support and offer lodging to gender nonconforming individuals.

The Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village is the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history.

How to be an ally

LGBTQ+ inclusion is an important part of the diversity, equity and inclusion conversation at Oglethorpe. The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion suggests a number of ways to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community at Oglethorpe and beyond.

• Educate yourself and others on the history and importance of valuing all gender identities and same-sex love.
• Openly support and fight for the LGBTQ+ community on social media and in real-life conversations.
• Support OUtlet, Oglethorpe’s LGBTQ+ student organization.
• Donate to organizations that help to fight for the rights of those most in need.
• Make it a priority to give love to the people who paved the way for Pride, and those who arguably face the most backlash for their sexual/gender identity: Black trans women.