Pride Recommended Reading List
This month, and every month, we recognize and celebrate our LGBTQ+ family, friends, and colleagues.
HISTORY OF PRIDE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
On June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Thousands of LGBT+ people gathered to commemorate Stonewall and demonstrate for equal rights. The events of Stonewall and the liberation movements that followed were a direct result of prior decades of LGBT+ activism and organizing. In particular, Pride traditions were adapted from the “Reminder Day Pickets” held annually (1965-1969) on July 4 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On June 11, 1999, President Bill Clinton issued a presidential proclamation designating June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month to mark the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement.
FIND A PRIDE EVENT NEAR YOU
Around the world, Pride celebrations take a variety of forms, from parades to parties to protests and proms. Since the start of the modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement in the 1970s, hundreds of independent Pride events have sprung up in cities worldwide, each distinctly local and generally tied in some way to the foundational Stonewall Riots in June. Find an event near you!
READ & WATCH
Check out the recommended reading list and informative documentaries curated by the Human Rights Campaign.
- Informative Documentaries
ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT
Learn more about just a few LGBTQ+ non-profit groups and organizations that work to combat racial, gender, and sexuality-based injustice and violence.
- The Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is a national organization working towards equality for LGBTQ Americans. Founded by Steve Endean in 1980 as The Human Rights Campaign Fund with the intent to provide financial support for political candidates who supported LGBTQ rights, the organization quickly evolved and is now that largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the U.S., providing support and awareness for and on behalf of the LGBTQ community.
- SNaPCo
SNaPCo builds power of Black trans and queer people to force systemic divestment from the prison industrial complex and invest in community support. A donation will help fund programs — like a 16-week internship program to create effective leaders to end the crisis of mass criminalization — support trans people that are in need, and bolster a SNAP4FREEDOM school that helps educate collaborators on how they can turn words into action.
- GLSEN
GLSEN was founded in 1990 by a group of teachers in Massachusetts who wanted to improve the bullying and discrimination problem against LGBTQ students in schools from grades K-12. Since then, GLSEN has worked on important legislation like the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which requires any K-12 grade school to employ anti-bullying policies with specific protection for those bullied because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- GLAAD
Originally founded in 1985 to protest the inflammatory coverage of the AIDS epidemic, GLAAD is now the leading source for fair representation of the LGBTQIA+ community in the media. From coverage of significant events to accurate depictions of queer stories in film and television, GLAAD is there to enforce visibility and accountability.
- National Center for Transgender Equality
The National Center for Transgender Equality was founded in 2003 and has since made it their mission to advocate and push for policy change that protects the freedom and liberties of transgender Americans.
- The Trevor Project
Named after the 1998 Academy Award-winning short film, The Trevor Project was the first national crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ teens and young adults. Since its inception, it’s helped thousands of struggling LGBTQ youths through their various services — Trevor Lifeline, which is accessible via phone call or text; TrevorChat (available on their site), a social network for LGBTQ youth 25 and younger, and their support center.
- Services & Advocacy for LGBT Elders
With LGBTQ protection laws being what they are, the limitations of an unpredictable future is most threatening to aging LGBTQ folks. Services & Advocacy for LGBT Elders, or SAGE, is the oldest organization in the United States specifically dedicated to advocating for the lives of our LGBTQ elders. Since 1978, The New York City-based group has been a source of information on health and legal centers, as well as benefits and programs aimed for the betterment of the lives of the elderly.
VERITEXT CARES
Social Responsibility, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, and Sustainable Operations.
