Why is June ‘Pride Month’?

The answer is embodied in two short words:  Stonewall Riots.

When it came time to choose a month to celebrate gay pride, queerness, alternative lifestyles, transgenderism, gender diversity and a whole host of other words, phrases and acronyms that all essentially represent a concept enshrined in our Declaration of Independence –

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all persons are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness*.

the moment when harassed gays stood up and said “enough is enough” was seen as an appropriate historical moment to commemorate.

I think it is instructive to take a look at not only how much things have changed since 1969, but also how much they have remained the same.  Take a look at this informational piece on History.com.  Among the many other things it points out is that, at least in NY city, police could arrest someone for wearing “less than three gender-appropriate garments”. Today, we fight over which bathroom is gender appropriate.  Seems like not much has changed in some respects.

On the other hand, great strides have been made in recognizing that people, and their identity in all its forms, are not stamped out with cookie-cutters and discrimination based on some perceived variation from the “norm” is wrong.  I take pride from the fact that science fiction fandom has long been one of the few communities in this country to at least express acceptance and work towards makinig it a reality.

So Happy Pride Month from all of us here at Amazing Stories.  Lets all keep working towards making those historic words a reality for everyone.

Some links:

Library of Congress

Presidential Proclamation

Pride 2018 Calendar

and, because the question will inevitably be asked “why no straight pride month?” Why we have LGBTQ Pride and not ‘Straight Pride’

Not sure what this all means?  Confused?  Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Orientation and gender identity a choice?  Visit the American Psychological Association’s literature page.

Biblically forbidden?  Not so fast.

The Pope (if you need Papal approval):  “God made you like this. God loves you like this. The Pope loves you like this and you should love yourself and not worry about what people say.”

(*yes, slightly modified to be more truly inclusive, changes that might have been suggested if the ERA had passed)

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