Pride Month is June in the UK, and is a prompt to celebrate and commemorate the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. It can be a joyful, poignant and perhaps painful time for both the LGBTQ+ groups as a reminder of what they have achieved but also suffered, and still suffer. We’re also mindful that it’s a time which can be confusing to navigate as a business owner, team leader, and supporter. How to get things right?
Pride June 2024
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We’re heading toward the highlight of June as Pride Month with World Pride Day on 28 June. You’ll find celebrations going on all over the UK as well as globally. On socials you’ll spot some great comment and sharing of information from many of the Instagram influencers in hairdressing. And the rainbow flag is everywhere, but if you don’t know the backstory, it can feel tricky to ask questions. So here are a few keynotes we can add to help:
In the 1960s being gay was classified as a mental illness in America, and in the UK, being gay was a crime until 1967,
Pride month was conceived after the Stonewall riot in New York during June 1969. Police had raided the Stonewall Inn – a gay bar – in the city and local riots followed. Marches commemorating the event sprang up the following year and have rapidly increased. Wikipedia notes that there are now pride celebrations in most major urban areas around the world (not always June)
A law called Section 28 was introduced in the UK in 1988 which stated that teachers in Britain could not promote gay relationships in schools. This lead to the creation of the Stonewall charity in the UK. They campaigned to have Section 28 overturned – and succeeded in 2003. It had taken 15 years.
Pride Month has been recognised by most US Presidents since 1999, and International LGBT Pride Day is designated as June 28 to mark the actual beginning of the Stonewall Riots some 55+ years ago.
LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. The + is an inclusive symbol to mean ‘and others’ to include people of all identities.
The Pride Flag
The rainbow Pride flag has 6 bright colours to celebrate differences. Each colour has something to offer:
• Red – life
• Orange – healing
• Yellow – sunlight
• Green – nature
• Blue – art
• Violet – spirit
The flag is updated and changed from time to time to better include and represent more communities. In 2017, black and brown stripes were added to recognise people of colour. And in 2018 a new Progress Pride Flag was created to include black, brown, pink, pale blue and white stripes to represent marginalised people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the trans community and those living with HIV/AIDS.
In 2021, an updated Progress Pride flag included a yellow triangle and purple circle to represent the intersex community.
Pride in the UK
Googling ‘Pride month 2024 UK’ you’ll discover that there is a wealth of information on how events unfold. London Pride parade is on 29 June 2024 but other cities will vary, so do research. Here are a few to note:
Cardiff Saturday 22 June
Edinburgh Saturday 22 June
as are Essex, Exmouth, Plymouth, Salisbury and Lancaster…
Dundalk 28/29 June
Dublin 29 June
Dartmouth 30 June
and more…
There will be plenty happening in July
Bournemouth 6 July
Bude, Crew, Hartlepool, Luton and Portsmouth also 6 July
Brighton, Glasgow, Leeds, Belfast Nottingham and others later in July.
do check for your locality – just Google your area.
Of course there are many nuances and different takes on many of the discussions around Pride. We encourage conversation and being brave enough to ask if you don’t know what something means. It’s the ignorance, the fear and shame that prevents us from real progress.
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