Why I’m Celebrating Pride Month
and why we still need it
Pride month is celebrated internationally every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising - a series of protests in response to discriminatory raids that took place at the Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village in New York.
Homosexuality was against the law at the time in New York and the raids were carried out on establishments deemed "disorderly" for allowing the gathering of the gay community. The protests served as a tipping point in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTQI) community history and ignited a movement for equality in the United States and elsewhere.
In the UK, meanwhile, the 1967 Sexual Offences Act repealed the maximum penalty for anal sex, but continued to prosecute gay men and still discriminated widely*. In Scotland, the law wasn’t changed at all. In fact, homosexuality wasn’t completely decriminalised until the 2003 Sexual Offences Act and prosecutions actually increased after the repeal**
The first Pride march was held in the UK in 1972, in London, organised by the Gay Liberation Front and Campaign for Homosexual Equality. It commemorated Stonewall, but sought to make gay rights visible. In the years that followed marches sprung up across the country, organised by various groups and individuals. They became popular and well supported.
The visibility and demanding of equal rights was essential in effecting changes in law and attitudes, however, the 1988 - now infamous - Section 28 clause - which prevented local councils from positive promotion of homosexuality - had a big impact on the LGBTQI community, particularly in schools, were it became impossible to talk about LGBTQI families. The conservative ‘family values’ push was actively discriminating against same sex families; homophobia was allowed to go unchallenged and a hysteria about indoctrinating children was rife. Section 28 contributed to mental health problems, fear and an increase in harassment for the LGBTQI community. The act was only repealed in 2003, wiped from the statute books and no longer casting shadows over LGBTQI lives.
If you think that Pride no longer matters, you only have to look at the statistics for harassment and violent crime against the LGBTQI community to understand how much it does. Pride is much more than processions, drag queens on floats and rainbows! It declares community- something to be part of. People should feel safe being themselves and not live in fear. Pride declares we are here and we support each other. It raises awareness of the community and challenges discriminatory attitudes. LGBTQI folk are part of our lives and communities, trying to lives their best lives, as most of us are.
Pride continues to matter. So many people have sacrificed so much to be able to live in a way where they can accept themselves and be at peace. It’s something that should be celebrated. It says we’re here and we deserve our happiness. It gives hope to LGBTQI young people that there is a community that’s there for them when everything else seems against them. It’s a beacon of light in an often bleak landscape.
Visibility can go two ways, however, and I worry that in a climate of intolerance and rigid thinking (or unthinking) that Pride will attract the haters and decriers, that the LGBTQ+ community will become more of a target again. A health report by Stonewall in 2018 showed that 52% of LGBTQI people said they’ve experienced depression, while 46% of trans people and 31% of LGBTQI people who aren’t trans have thought about suicide. They’re worrying statistics. The fight for equality continues.
Whilst there are more public figures and more LGBTQI stories than ever on our screens, phones, and news feeds, there are also rising numbers of hate crimes against the LGBTQI community. According to ‘Stop Hate UK’ In 2020/2021, sexual orientation-motivated Hate Crimes went up from 15,972 to 17,135, while transgender identity-motivated Hate Crimes went up from 2,542 to 2,630 (Police Recorded Hate Crimes). LGBTQI Hate Crimes are highly under-reported and thousands more who are victims of abuse and harassment do not come forward. Four in five anti-LGBTQI Hate crimes and incidents go unreported, with younger LGBTQI people particularly reluctant to go to the police (Stonewall). Hate against sexual orientation and transgender identity remain the third most reported motivations for hate incidents and crimes. The trend is worrying. I can’t find more recent figures, but I would put money on the numbers having gone up.
We’ve come a long way from the Stonewall Uprising in terms of legislation and anti- discrimination, but the rising spectre of right wing politics, combined with fundamentalist religious views, particularly in the United States, gives cause for concern. Over 20% of LGBTQI people have been the target of a hate crime or incident in the last 12 months according to reported figures, but in surveys of the community, the figure is double that. There is clearly still a long way to go before the LGBTQI people can live without fear. The figures are depressing, but should garner those of us outwith the community to be true allies and help work towards genuine equality and acceptance for our fellow humans.
I was brought up in a religious environment and taught that homosexuality was wrong, but I could never understand the hate and fear, or reconcile it with the doctrine of love and acceptance that was preached from the pulpit. ‘Love the sinner and hate the sin’ was the mantra’ but just doesn’t cut it. As author and ally Mary Katherine Backstrom says, it’s a philosophy that gives motive to terrorists; it loads the bullets in the gun and stands back whilst others shoot. If our tolerant society allows intolerant attitudes then one day, the intolerance wins. It happened with Jews and gypsies and the disabled and the gay community in the second world war and we can see it happening again. Discrimination and persecution based on someone’s sexual orientation, religion, ability, creed or colour cannot be tolerated. Everyone has the inalienable right to live and love how they choose and who they choose.
I saw a young man hounded out of a church community because he was gay. He was a kind, generous, funny, loving guy and wasn’t in a relationship with anyone. One day he disappeared. I was away at college at the time and when I came back was horrified to hear that he had effectively been forced to leave for no other reason than his sexual orientation. I should have stuck up for him. I should have contacted him. I didn’t. I lost touch and all but forgot about him, until he sent me a friend request on Facebook. I’ve since expressed my regret and sorrow and he was very gracious about the whole situation, though at the time it was for him, very hurtful - and totally unwarranted.
The LGBTQI community is not the enemy. The enemy is within. The haters, the bigots. They have nothing to fear and yet fear is often what often motivates them. They’re insecure and feel threatened by difference. They fail to have any empathy for fellow human beings, fellow travellers.
One of the most deadly terror attacks in the USA was at the Pulse nightclub (a gay club) in 2016 where 49 people were killed and 53 were injured. Many lives lost and others changed forever. In a number of countries living as a LGBTQI person comes with a threat to life. This should not happen in any country, but in countries that uphold the Charter of Human Rights, it is an abomination. We need to deconstruct the systems which oppress, be they racism, ableism, classism, xenophobia or sexism.
Pride is both protest and celebration and I’m proud to stand with my LGBTQI friends this month and beyond. I hope you will at least consider your own prejudices - if you have them. Get to know people in the LGBTQI community (you probably already do) Listen to their stories - many of them are heartbreaking. They’re ordinary people, like you and me. They are you and me. They want to live and love without harassment, violence and discrimination and they deserve to, don’t they?
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References and Resources
*Legislation has always been about sexual discrimination. We’re fed media about gay men and anal sex, which is irrelevant to the call for equality in all things.
**’For many years after 1967 many more men were arrested and tried for homosexual offences than had been the case before decriminalisation, a situation that continued into the 1990s. Between 1966 and 1974 the numbers of prosecutions for homosexual offences increased by fifty-five per cent, from 1553 to 2798 per year. Offences of “gross indecency” rose from 420 in 1966 to a peak of 2,022 in 1989. Gay News was not alone in calling the 1967 Act a “con trick.”’
Official Government Statistics - Hate Crime
It's concerning that the UK government is being influenced by the US swing to fascist attitudes.