Since the first Pride marches in 1970, the LGBTQ community has gathered together each year to protest, celebrate and live our truest selves. What started as a single day in June has blossomed into a full season of hundreds of worldwide Pride celebrations starting in early April (Phoenix, Miami, Fort Lauderdale) through Palm Springs Pride in early November.
This year, however, will be much different. Many Prides have already announced postponements and some, like San Francisco and Boston, are skipping this year altogether. We’re keeping our GayCities Pride Calendar up-to-date and adding in virtual Prides like InterPride’s Global Pride celebration on June 27th. And with more Prides planning for the fall, we’ll enjoy an extended Pride season this year.
The core spirit of the first Prides was summed up by the protest chant: “We’re here. We’re queer. Get used to it.” As LGBTQ acceptance grew over the decades, Pride became a way to let our hair down, live life to the fullest, and be seen in a very public way. That visibility attracted corporations, government agencies, schools and allies who wished to stand with us.
While we might not physically gather this June, the spirit of Pride is always with us. We’ll see virtual Prides, people posting pics from Prides past, rainbow flags hanging out of windows and people being their fiercest selves online. We’ll also come together to support LGBTQ organizations, support those in need, join virtual fundraisers and be there to support our friends and families. We hope that this emphasis on community care will last for years to come.
Across Q.Digital’s sites, we’ll be showcasing the spirit of Pride and the people that make Pride so special throughout this extended season.
- Kicking off in June and running through July, Queerty Pride50 highlights the people who make us proud, and who work to ensure that society continues moving towards equality, acceptance, and dignity for all LGBTQ people.
- LGBTQ Nation’s Pride in Pictures editorial series asks readers to share photos and stories of their first Pride experiences, whether it was that first Pride March in 1970 or just last year.
- GayCities Pride in Places will focus on the growing number of LGBTQ monuments across the globe, even in quite unexpected places. You might not be able to go there in person right now, so we’ll take you there and tell you the stories of how they came to be.
- Pride Moments: Pride is an everyday experience, and Queerty’s Pride channel will be highlighting these moments that remind us what Pride is truly about; parades or no parades.
- Pride Coverage: All our sites will be covering the virtual Pride activities happening worldwide, whether InterPride’s Global Pride or happenings near you, and we’ll extend our Pride coverage through the fall as pride IRL returns to some (hopefully, many) communities.
- LGBTQ Nation Heroes: New for fall 2020, LGBTQ Nation‘s readers will honor their community heroes, showing our pride in people that dedicate their lives to causes greater than their own.
All of us at Q.Digital are happy to bring Pride into your home and help you share your stories. This June, let’s all celebrate together, remembering that Pride really is year-round and that nothing can truly separate us.