Commemorating Pride Month: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Rights and Recognition

What is Pride Month?

  • -Pride Month is celebrated every June as a period of reflection, celebration, and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.
  • -Its origins trace back to the Stonewall Uprising in 1969.
  • -Over the years, Pride Month has transformed from a single day of remembrance to a month-long global celebration.

 

Pride Month

Significance of June in LGBTQ+ History

  • -The Stonewall Uprising, a crucial incident in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, occurred in June 1969 in New York. Pride Month commemorates this event.
  • -In 1999, President Bill Clinton was the first to declare June as "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month". Successive presidents, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, have kept this tradition going.

The Stonewall Riots: Catalyst for Change

  • -In the 1960s, homosexuality was an illegal act in the US, with severe punishment for solicitation.
  • -The Stonewall Inn in New York was a haven for the LGBTQ+ community, who sought acceptance and community.
  • -On June 28, 1969, New York police raided the
  • 2014; freedom to express sexual orientation protected by the Right to Privacy in 2017; passage of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
  • -While same-sex marriage is not explicitly recognised as a constitutional right in India, cohabiting same-sex couples receive some limited recognition.
  • -As per Indian Constitution, LGBTQIA+ community members enjoy equal protection under the law, and the right to marry a person of their choice is considered integral to Article 21 of the Constitution.
  • Stonewall Inn, sparking outrage in the LGBTQ+ community and resulting in six days of riots. These riots  are  viewed as a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights.
  • -Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender activist, played a pivotal role in these riots and is now hailed as a notable figure in the LGBTQ+ community.

Post-Stonewall: Pride and Unity

-Post-riots, activists initiated a march on its anniversary themed "gay pride", symbolising the community's sense of pride and unity in their identities.

-The Stonewall riots were a watershed moment against discrimination and police brutality faced by the LGBTQ+ community. This event gave broader visibility to non-conventional identities and orientations, a legacy which Pride Month continues to uphold.

LGBTQIA+ Rights in the United States and India

-In the US, despite the absence of a federal law specifically prohibiting discrimination based on orientation or identity, the Supreme Court's ruling that this discrimination is a form of sex discrimination is significant.

-In India, progress for LGBTQIA+ rights has been substantial with: voting rights for third sex individuals in 1994; Supreme Court recognition of transgender people as a third gender category in