BIPOC PRIDE 2021: Wellness and Connecting with your community NOW!
BIPOC PRIDE 2021: Wellness and Connecting with your community NOW!
June marks the 51st celebration of Pride Month, a time when millions and millions of people all over the world come together in support of the LGBTQ community by walking in parades and attending festivals.
This year, many celebrations across the globe will still resume as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and more people receive a coronavirus vaccine.
Why does Pride Month take place in June?
It goes back to June 28, 1969, when police raided a gay club called the Stonewall Inn in New York.
Though the police claimed the bar was operating with an improper liquor license, the raid was about nothing more than violently harassing and arresting LGBTQ people in one of the few places where they felt safe.
Because of Covid-19, last year for Pride, instead of waving flags of resistance and dancing in the streets, we stayed home, hidden behind masks and unsure of when we’d be able to be together again for a big joint celebration.
For older generations of LGBTQ folks, this pandemic and it’s effect on Pride brought back shockwaves reminiscent of the frightening early days of the AIDS epidemic, when gay people were left to care for each other while no one else, including the government, would.
THE MOOD FOR PRIDE IS USUALLY BRIGHT AND CHEERY!
TRUTH BE TOLD, ITS ORIGINS ARE ANYTHING BUT.
Pride commemorates a riot where gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans people fought back against a violent police raid on the Stonewall Bar in the late-night hours of June 28, 1969.
At the time, raids by cops on the few gay clubs that existed were commonplace and antigay laws were on the books from coast to coast. The confrontations lasted for several more days with the crowds growing in size and ferocity.
Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of events worldwide that were planned for 2020.
The good news in 2021 is that vaccination rates are moving faster than anyone imagined, with half of Americans having received at least one dose. It is a bright spot in what has been a dark time, but it comes a little too late for event organizers who need months to plan festivities.
This means there will be few in-person activities this month for the millions of recently vaccinated people with pent-up queer energy bursting to get out.
This year, there’s still some uncertainty surrounding ongoing pandemic about who can and can’t go out. Luckily, there’s a lot of amazing stuff happening online that you don’t have to go out of the house to experience.
How to connect with community for Pride 2021
Attend a Pride parade or festival:
This year, some Pride Month festivities will resume in person, depending on where you live. However, many have been postponed until later this year or next due to the coronavirus.
If you can’t find a parade in your area (you can search “Pride parade Chicago,” for instance), see if there are other events you can attend.
Support Pride organizations by donating:
Can’t make it to any events but would like to support the LGBTQ community? You can do so by donating to Pride organizations.
The International LGBTQ Travel Association organization helps provide marketing support to LGBTQ businesses.
Reach out to your company’s diversity and inclusion groups:
If you’d like to get involved for Pride Month at work, you can contact your company’s diversity and inclusion groups to see how you can help. You could help coordinate a virtual event where you play trivia games and decorate your Zoom background with a Pride flag.
If your company doesn’t have any Pride events scheduled, consider organizing one yourself.
How to show your support from home
There are plenty of ways to show your support from home.
We’ve listed several to get you started.
Hang a Pride flag outside your home.
Place a Pride sticker on your car.
Host your own Pride-themed movie night.
Wear some Pride clothing.
Join virtual events.
Be an ally to your LGBTQ colleagues, friends and family members.
Support LGBTQ organizations in schools.
Support businesses that support the LGBTQ community.
Celebrate virtually
If there’s not a Pride event happening near you, don’t fret. There are plenty of ways to celebrate virtually, and even watch Pride parades and events happening around the world. You can also participate in events virtually — for instance, the Atlanta Pride Run has a virtual option you can sign up for and run anywhere you want (plus, it comes with a shirt).
More Pride events to look out for:
June 27
The NYC Pride March will broadcast live from 12 pm to 3 pm ET. The livestream will include live performances, on-air interviews, and exciting street-side activities featuring groups who would normally march and spotlights of this year’s grand marshalls. It will air on ABC-7, ABC7NY.com, and ABC7 New York’s connected TV apps on streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku.
Pride Island Home is the new virtual format for NYC Pride’s legendary event. The centerpiece will be four hours of programming that includes two hours of performances by DJ Lina Bradford and other soon-to-be-announced artists from around the city, followed by two hours of a music mix to a rolling screen of footage from 35 years of the Pier Dance.
Pride is as much a chance for LGBTQ people to see and be seen as it is an observance of our history and celebration of our future. For young people, it’s an opportunity to be introduced to the glory of the wider community. For seniors, it’s a chance to see friends old and new and to wonder at the progress we’ve made!