Celebrating, learning about Pride Month

6/4/2021

Rainbow Suncatcher made with a library Take & Make Kit, available for pickup

Each June, people across the nation mark Pride Month, recognizing the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals have had on history and the significant contributions LGBTQ+ people make in our communities each day.

Why June? The 28th of this month is the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. The following year, the first Gay Pride Day was held in Greenwich Village on the last Sunday of June. Three to five thousand marchers attended that inaugural Pride in New York City; today, Big Apple marchers number in the millions.

Over the years, Pride celebrations have spread to cities and towns across the nation, and now encompass a month-long series of events, including memorials for LGBTQ+ people who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS.

June is a great time to think, learn, and talk about civil rights and the freedoms that not everyone has been granted, that have been won only through struggle.

"It takes no compromise to give people their rights.... It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom."
–Harvey Milk

To find out more about Pride Month:

Browse the photos, videos, resources, and 2021 event listings on the Library of Congress website.
Read the White House proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month.
Check out a good book.

Reading suggestions for adults

Real Life by Brandon Taylor follows an introverted and guarded college student over the course of a single weekend as he battles with loneliness, racism, trauma, and sexual identity have led him to value self-preservation above all. Taylor gives readers a window directly into the protagonist's innermost thoughts.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo is a creative and fantastical take on The Great Gatsby. Told through the eyes of Jordan Baker, reimagined as a queer Vietnamese woman, as she navigates the magical and shady world of Jazz Age New York City, this is a refreshing look at a classic story.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur is the book equivalent of a comforting rom-com movie, with all the right ingredients: a fake relationship, opposites attract, and relatable characters. When Darcy, a logical actuary, and Elle, a free-spirited astrologer, pretend to date to solve their work and family woes, it becomes clear that they run the risk of developing more than fake feelings for each other.

Browse more:
cloudLibrary: Read the Rainbow
Libby / OverDrive: Pride Month
Vernon Area Library LGBTQ+ Favorites for Adults (printable bookmark)