Leading your own Pride event
Although the activist energy of Stonewall may be resonating with you, being the organizer of a city pride is a big undertaking. NYC pride or London pride alike -- a Pride festival is ressource-intensive. It requires coordinating a parade route for floats, getting municipal clearances, inviting performers such as drag queens and DJs, coordinating local gay bars… Not to mention that it takes months to prepare for!
Thankfully, no matter who you are, there are ways to kick off Pride month by getting involved with smaller Pride events (no brand sponsors needed!).
Why is Pride celebrated?
Pride has been an event for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans individuals to commemorate the Stonewall riots in New York City. Behind the festivities, the Pride spirit goes back to a 1969 police raid at the Stonewall Inn, where LGBT rioters stood up to such persecution by demanding LGBT+ rights be recognized. Since then, major cities around the world have hosted yearly Pridefest to uplift the visibility of LGBTQ community issues.
Civil rights that protect sexual orientation and gender identities from a hate crime, harassment or other forms of prejudice are still relatively recent. Pride protests started with legalizing homosexuality, then marriage equality for same-sex couples and now transgender rights. These have been key points that the LGBT movement has fought for to better LGBT equality.
LGBT Pride at all scales
Visibility
Protests can come in many forms, and are largely dependent on context. For example, it could be considered performative in a very progressive area, to encourage students at high school to wear Pride flags as pins on their shirt. However, at a high school with very little support for LGBT students, a Rainbow Day could be a huge step forward towards being more inclusive. On that day, teachers, staff and students wear a Pride flag or pin on their shirts or bags to show support. This could start needed conversations and signal to queer students that allies are present. This is a relatively inexpensive idea, only requiring a rainbow flag set, and can increase visibility of ally support.
Another idea would be to create a small zine, poster or flyer to be distributed. It could center around queer culture, the Stonewall uprisings, the LGBT rights movement, same-sex discrimination or transgender education -- any idea can work. Condensing a topic like LGBT history into key points with an engaging design might pique any passerby’s attention into picking up the flyer.
Community spaces
Dedicating a space for the community to express Pride can also be a way to go. For students, most academic institutions will let you reserve a classroom or auditorium; a local community center may also be useful. This could lead to an open mic night: LGBT community members can gather to recite poetry, perform songs or stand-up comedy to celebrate Pride. Or, as a form of demonstration, by activists having an audience to openly discuss community issues. In that same vain, organizing a Pride week film festival can educate and be entertaining too.
In your workspace, you could consider a support group meeting event for queer coworkers. Organizers would be creating space for LGBT people at the workplace to discuss difficulties unique to their identities, whether be their sexuality or gender-identity. Knowing that there is a space can be a real ressource to people, especially if you thought you facing something like homophobia alone.
Ressource gathering
You can also organize a donation event or drive to a local LGBT+ non-profit organization or shelter. Fundraising through a Pride march, run or bike ride doesn’t have to be too demanding on a smaller scale. You will need to plan out the route, but it can be as easy as organizing it in a local park. This kind of Pride celebration is both charitable and raising awareness.
In conclusion, creating a Pride event doesn’t have to mobilize an entire city around an expensive Pride weekend, led with major company sponsorship. Making a difference in local networks can generate change as well.
