Gay Pride Day 2024: origin, meaning of the LGBTQIA+ movement and why it is celebrated on June 28
The history of the Gay Pride celebration dates back to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York, when the LGBTQIA community first fought for their rights.
Pride Day is celebrated in different parts of the world on June 28 as part of the celebrations of June as Pride Month.
The LGBTQIA community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, queer, intersex, and asexual) usually holds the main parades on the Saturday closest to this date. This celebration is held on June 28 to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in New York that took place in 1969, the first time the LGBTQIA community came together in the United States to fight for their rights.
The riots consisted of a series of spontaneous and violent demonstrations that arose in protest against a police raid that took place in the early hours of June 28 at the Stonewall Inn pub located in the New York neighborhood of Greenwich Village.
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The LGBTQIA community came together on that occasion to fight against a system that persecuted non-normative people. They also sought to demonstrate that non-heterosexual people were an integral part of society, and fostered a culture of non-confrontation between heterosexuals and those who do not conform to heteronormativity.
The first marches to commemorate the Stonewall protests and struggles took place in 1970 in New York and Los Angeles. After this initial step, many cities around the world also began holding these parades to demand recognition and their rights.
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Pride Month is recognized
In June 2009, then-President of the United States, Barack Obama, declared the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, citing the riots as a reason to “commit to equality under the law for LGBT Americans.”
That same year marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In 2016, Obama also named the Stonewall Inn a national monument, making the pub the first monument in the United States dedicated to the struggle of the LGBT community.
“People got tired of being persecuted and the movement became an essential part of the United States,” the former president said. Today, Pride festivities are celebrated in many parts the world.