Why is pride month in June? In 1969 June 28th, the event that caused the LGBTQ+ movement happened in New York City’s Greenwich Village, at the Stonewall Inn. The events that took place at the Stonewall Inn continued for 5 days. This is known as the Stonewall uprising and these events are what led to the LGBTQ+ movements in the United States. What occurred at the Stonewall uprising was that there were riots and protests. This all happened because the police raid the Stonewall Inn which was a Gay club. Years after the Stonewall uprising more marches were taking place throughout the bigger cities in the United States. June was declared pride month in 1999 when president Bill Clinton said that it was “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month”. As years progressed Obama proclaimed June as “LGBT Month”. When Biden was sworn in he said that June is “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month”.

There are many LGBTQ+ icons that have had a big impact on the movement and some people don’t know who they are. Some of these people are Alan Turing, Oscar Wilde, Marsha P. Johnson, and Gilbert Baker. Each of these people have impacted the LGBTQ+ movement in different ways. 

Alan Turing is known for cracking something called the Enigma code, which shortened WWII by several years. What people don’t know about Turing is that he was arrested in 1952 because being homosexual was illegal during the time. He was pardoned of this ‘crime’ in 2013 and in 2017 the government agreed to pardon other men from this ‘crime’, which means it will not go on their criminal record. Oscar Wilde is one of the most famous playwrights of all time. He was married to a woman and had two children, but later when information of his private life got out he was arrested for being homosexual and tried for gross indecency. Throughout his 2 years of hard labor, his wife took his children to switzerland. 

Marsha P. Johnson was an African American transgender right activist. During the Stonewall uprising Marsha was one of the key people who stood up to the police. She also led many protest and riots demanding equal rights for gay people. Gilbert Baker invented the rainbow flag that is now known to symbolize the LGBTQ+ community. Gilbert was offered a lot of money but he refused to trademark the flag because he said it’s a symbol for everyone. 

The LGBTQ+ community has worked so hard to earn rights, but there are still places that continue discriminatory practices. Members of the LGBTQ+ community have contributed so much to our world, now is the time to give them the recognition they deserve.