Pride month is a month-long celebration that takes place in June to honor the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, accept oneself and others, support each other, remember those who have been lost to hate crimes and HIV/Aids, and to raise awareness to queer history and queer issues.
This pride month there are many events being held locally. This includes World Gay Pride Drag Show at John Henry’s on Jun 25-26 from 10pm-2am, Pride Agenda Festival and Burelesque Show on Jun 11th and 12th at 6pm at Josephone County Fairgrounds with tickets starting at $5, a Rainbow Reads Book Group on June 8th at the downtown Eugene library and on Zoom, and many pride events and parades in Portland.
Pride month was established in June after the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The first pride march was held on June 28, 1970 on the year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
The Stonewall Riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, started after police violently raided a gay club called the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, which led to six days of protests.
While there are many different accounts of the story, it is clear that there were many influential people involved, including two POC (people of color) trans women, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
They included the voices of queer people of color and trans people, as previously the conversation was dominated by white cisgender (those who identify with their gender assigned at birth) gays.
Marsha P. Johnson died in 1992 when her body was found in the Hudson River. It was ruled as a suicide, but friends and family believe she was attacked. Her death serves as a reminder of the hate crimes trans women, especially women of color, face.
In 2020, there was the highest rate of death from hate crimes committed to transgender people since they had started being documented in 2013. With 44 transgender murders, 40 of them were trans women of color, showing the disparity and higher risk trans women of color face.
In many gay organizations, trans people were excluded from pride marches and their role in Stonewall and Gay Rights Movements. This is why it’s important to celebrate pride with the remembrance of trans people, especially trans women of color and their role that they played in getting us where we are today.
