Every June, we celebrate, honor and commemorate LGBTQA+ Pride Month in the U.S. Officially recognized in 1969 following the Stonewall riots, with the first Pride March occurring in 1970, Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQA+ movement. While Pride Marches have occurred globally for the past few decades and companies across industries have started to make a greater effort to honor the community, it’s important to understand the history of the movement. The term “Pride” can be credited to Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” who organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. We can also recognize Harvey Milk for the traditional pride rainbow flag, a symbol that is inclusive and represents a broad community of lesbian, gay, bisexual people, people who are trans, poly, asexual or queer. In honor of Pride, the SourceCode team has compiled resources for continued learning, opportunities for shopping at small businesses, attending events or rallies and supporting the movement all year round. See some of those resources below:
Learn (Read, Watch & Listen)
Read
- Tomorrow Will Be Different, before she became the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention in 2016 at the age of twenty-six, Sarah McBride struggled with the decision to come out—not just to her family but to the students of American University, where she was serving as student body president.
- The Stonewall Reader, June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library’s archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots.
- Sissy, as a young child in North Carolina, Jacob Tobia wasn’t the wrong gender, they just had too much of the stuff. Barbies? Yes. Playing with bugs? Absolutely. Getting muddy? Please. Princess dresses? You betcha. Jacob wanted it all, but because they were “a boy,” they were told they could only have the masculine half. Acting feminine labelled them “a sissy” and brought social isolation.
Watch
- Pride (2021), “PRIDE” is a six-part documentary series chronicling the struggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights in America from the 1950s through the 2000s. Six renowned LGBTQ+ directors explore heroic and heartbreaking stories that define us as a nation. The limited series spans the FBI surveillance of homosexuals during the 1950s Lavender Scare to the “Culture Wars” of the 1990s and beyond, exploring the queer legacy of the Civil Rights movement and the battle over marriage equality. The evolution of trans rights and identities through the decades is charted through interviews and archival footage of pioneers
- Love, Victor (2020 – Present), Set in the world of the original 2018 film “Love, Simon,” the series follows Victor, a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation. When it all seems too much, he reaches out to Simon to help him navigate the ups and downs of high school.
- Changing The Game (2021), CHANGING THE GAME takes us into the lives of three high school athletes—all at different stages of their athletic seasons, personal lives, and unique paths as transgender teens.
Listen
- Getting Curious, a weekly exploration of all the things Jonathan Van Ness (Queer Eye, Gay of Thrones) is curious about. Come on a journey with Jonathan and experts in their respective fields as they get curious about anything and everything under the sun.
- Food 4 Thot, a roundtable discussion podcast wherein a multiracial mix of queer writers talk sex, relationships, race, identity, what we like to read, and who we like to read.
- Making Gay History, intimate, personal portraits of both known and long-forgotten champions, heroes, and witnesses to history brought to you from rare archival interviews.
Shop
Events
- New York Pride taking place Sunday, June 27
- San Francisco Pride
- Denver Pride
- Key West Pride
Support
- The Trevor Project, founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.
- It Gets Better Project, the It Gets Better Project is a nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower, and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth around the globe. Learn more about our work.
- National Center for Transgender Equality, The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice.
In 2020, SourceCode committed to being more intentional about building a team and a commercial entity that was both more reflective of the world we live in, and more financially engaged with communities of color. To keep up with our progress of making decisions based on equity and inclusivity, check out our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion page here.