How Pride is Important

Before you start reading, I would like to say that if you are hateful of the LGBTQIA+ community, then you are not welcome. As someone who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, hate towards myself and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community, hate will not be tolerated. Secondly, if you are LGB without the T, you can either leave, or read on and see how trans people fought for OUR rights. Finally, if you're a part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I love you, and I see you. Again, I am part of the community myself. Happy Pride Month!!

With it now being pride month, and with the unfortunate rise of hate on the LGBTQIA+ community, I wanted to write about and share how pride month is important and the relevance it has today. Especially now that there has been a rise in transphobia that has been prominent in British media and news outlets, there is a reason why we still need pride month today and also why pride month is so important to the queer community.

First, I want to talk about pride month and the importance of it. Whilst most people think of rainbows when they hear pride month, that's not just what pride is about. Pride month is to show the struggles, the hardships, and the lack of support that queer people have had to face throughout the years, and the hate is still prominent in today's society. Pride month is something that is to show acceptance just simply by being LGBTQIA+ and is also a celebration of LGBTQIA+ history and culture. The reason we have pride month is because of what had happened at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, especially after the riots, it had changed historically on how gay rights are today. As of today, pride month is to remember what happened in 1969, and with the pride parades too, it's something where individuals can come together with love, support and acceptance. We have pride month and the pride parade not just from the Stonewall Riots, but also from transwomen of colour and a black drag king, we wouldn't have pride and we surely wouldn't have the rights we have today.

Next, I want to talk about the following people:

Marsha P. Johnson
Sylvia Rivera
Stormé DeLarverie

The three trailblazers who paved the way into making pride month what it is and the three people who also helped us have the pride parade and the three people to help us get the rights we have today. I bring this up for the 'LGB without the T' crowd, especially those in the LGBTQIA+ community. If it wasn't for these three people, again, we wouldn't have the rights we have today. Whilst I understand certain trans people make it unbearable to be in the community, it was black trans women and a black drag king to get us, as a whole, the rights we have today. So, I will be talking about Marsha P. Johnson, Silvia Rivera and Stormé DeLarverie individually and how they helped with the rise of LGBTQIA+ rights pride month and the first pride parade.

Marsha P. Johnson, born in 1945, was one of the most iconic and prominent figures in the gay movement in the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Marsha was always an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ youth who were homeless, for those who had been affected by the HIV and AIDS crisis and in general for gay and trans rights. She was the fifth of seven children, and despite growing up in a Christian household and going to Mount Teman African Methodist Episcopal Church, she experienced wearing women's clothes from the age of 5 years old, but was pressured to stop from the bullying and sexual assault from a thirteen year old boy.

Once she moved to New York, she adopted the name Marsha P. Johnson, where she stated that the ‘P' in her name stood for ‘Pay It No Mind’, which became a prominent phrase she used and it became her motto. She identified as a gay person, a transvestite, and used she/her pronouns. It wasn't until she died in 1992 when the term ‘transgender' was used. However, on June 28th, 1969, Marsha found herself engaging with the resistance that had started at The Stonewall Inn when she arrived at 2am, where police were already arresting the patrons, in which most were gay men. It was then she stated during an interview “the place was already on fire, and there was a raid already. The riots had already started.” Like other transwomen, she felt like she had nothing to lose already, and was already angered with the raid that had happened by the police, along with the oppression and fear they faced everyday. With everything that had happened to Marsha P. Johnson founded STAR, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, with Stormé DeLarverie, in 1970, and the first STAR house was in Greenwich Village at the back of an abandoned truck. STAR was an organisation dedicated to sheltering young transgender individuals who were shunned by their families. However, during this time in the 1970’s, she suffered many mental health breakdowns, and on July 6th 1992, her body was found in the Hudson River.

Next I want to talk about Stormé DeLarverie, a black drag king. She was known to be a legendary drag king and androgynous fashion icon, was dubbed the Rosa Parks of the Gay community during her liberation movement at Stonewall Inn, and her involvement during the liberation movement lasted the rest of her life. She was a prominent figure in the Stonewall Riots, playing a huge part in the gay liberation. By the late 1960’s, she became a regular at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. During the riots, Stormé was arrested, but soon broke free and started fighting the police after breaking away from her escort, and yelled “Why don't you guys do something?” It is also unknown whether it was Stormé who threw the first punch, but everyone agrees that she was present and participated in the struggle during the ensuing uprising.

Finally, I want to talk about Sylvia Rivera. She was a veteran during the Stonewall Uprising, and was an advocate for those who felt disregarded and silenced from larger movements. She had fought for transgender rights and fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgeder people of colour, especially during the larger movement for gay rights. She was one of the main people who were a part of the Stonewall Riot along with Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson, who Sylvia described as being like her mother. In an interview in 2001, Sylvia Rivera, she mentions that she had not thrown the first Molotov Cocktail, which was revealed to be a myth, however she did claim to throw the second Molotov Cocktail. It was during 1970 when the first pride parade happened, yet people like Silvia Rivera and other transgender people were still discriminated against and also discouraged from participating. However, in 1973, Silvia participated in the Gay Pride Parade, and was still not allowed to speak, yet, she still grabbed the microphone and told the spectators and other marches, to which she said; “If it wasn’t for the drag queen, there would be no gay liberation movement. We’re the front-liners.” She was unfortunately booed off stage. Sylvia was a huge part in queer rights, especially in the rights for transgender people, especially black trans folk.

The next thing I want to talk about is more in depth on why pride month is so important. Whilst in recent times, we have come a long way for LGBTQIA+ acceptance, we definitely still have a long way to go as there have been times why we need pride month and also, the pride parade. From a 2025 study from the inclusive employers, and it states that:

The UK had restricted all puberty blockers for trans and non binary youth, which had been proven to be lifesaving (and also reversable)
Hungary had banned all LGBTQIA+ events as early as March 25th, 2025 and they also utilised facial scanning technology to recognise event organisers and attendees. This is to repress and outlaw LGBTQIA+ people
San Francisco pride and Toronto pride, which are the two largest pride parades, had both lost major corporate sponsors due to Trump's equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) purge.
There was also the murder of Muhsin Hendricks, who was the first openly gay imam in South Africa (February 2025)
The UK Supreme Court ruling showed that LGBTQIA+ people were still under threat in their 2025 ruling.

These are some of the main reasons why we still need pride month, because it's things like this that prove as to why we need pride. In 2021, there was a census that was important to an LGBTQIA+ landmark. It provided the knowledge that members of the LGBTQIA+ are here, they deserve to feel safe, respected and have the same access to healthcare, education, employment, housing and social services.

Did you know that the rollback of LGBTQIA+ is a dangerous fight for rights? Each year, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association Europe publishes their Rainbow Map, to show the rights LGBTQIA+ folk have. The UK was at the top of the leaderboard a decade ago for LGBTQIA+ rights, but in 2025, it had been revealed that the UK had dropped down to the 22nd spot out of 45 in terms of their LGBTQIA+ rights? Did you also know that over 22,000 LGBTQIA+ people in the UK reported being hate crimed in 2023/24, which is an increase from the 18,000 LGBTQIA+ people from 2020/21? Not to mention, about 3% of the hate crimes are anti-transgender hate crimes, up from the 1% of hate crimes that were happening a decade ago. It doesn't help that the hateful rhetoric from politicians across Europe is another way it is harmful to the LGBTQIA+ community.

On the contrary, some of the negative things LGBTQIA+ folk will face in their daily life are:

Mental health issues
Hate crime
Not being able to access healthcare as freely

These are just some of the things that LGBTQIA+ people may face in their daily lives, especially compared to cishet folk. I will talk about the three points more.

Mental Health Issues

When it comes to mental health issues, people who are in the LGBTQIA+ doesn't automatically mean they're going to have mental health issues, however, being LGBTQIA+ does mean that there is a higher risk of experiencing poor mental health. Did you know that a study by Stonewall found that half of LGBTQIA+ people had experienced depression and that 3 in 5 had experienced anxiety? What about the 1 in 8 LGBTQIA+ people that are aged 18 to 24 have attempted to end their life? Or what about that half of trans people have thought about ending their life? There was also a report done by the NHS in 2022, and it revealed the social and health inequalities LGBTQIA+ people face in Scotland. Did you know that in the same NHS study, over 54% of LGBTQIA+ people shared their mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression or chronic stress. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic had made these worse, and then over 72% of LGBTQIA+ folk reported the pandemic had made it worse.

Hate Crimes

Next, I want to talk about how people who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community face hate crimes. Did you know that in the past five years, directly from official police recorded hate crimes, that the hate crimes that are based on sexual orientation has increased by 20% and those who identify with trans identities have reported a 50% increase in hate crime? Did you also know that Galop also saw a 27% increase in hate crime calls to their National LGBT+ Abuse and Violence Helpline during the last reporting year? These numbers show real people who now no longer feel safe being themselves in public. It also shows that from Stonewall's research, it revealed that less than half of the LGBTQIA+ people feel comfortable holding their partner's hand in public. This is the reality of being part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Being Unable to Access Healthcare Freely

I finally want to talk about how LGBTQIA+ folk are less likely to be able to access healthcare freely. Did you know that around 1 in 8 LGBTQIA+ folk have experienced unequal treatment from healthcare staff? From the LGBT foundation, it was revealed that in 2017, 21% of LGBTQIA+ folk had experienced either homophobic, biphobic or transphobic comments in the past 12 months, with trans folk experiencing 41% of hate crimes. Did you also know that 23% of LGBTQIA+ people have, at one time, witnessed anti LGBTQIA+ remarks said by healthcare staff? In aa 2018 post from the Stonewall website, did you know that 52% of LGBTQIA+ folk experienced depression? From the same website, did you know that 1 in 7 or 14%, of LGBTQIA+ folk avoid seeking healthcare for fear of discrimination from staff? This shows that even in places where LGBTQIA+ people are supposed to feel safe, they still get discriminated against.

Finally, I want to talk about the trans rights and hate crimes they receive. Did you know that in 2021 from the Home Office that 2,630 transgender folk were a victim of hate crime? Did you also know that 88% of transgender folk don’t report any of the hate crimes they experience to the Government Equalities Officer? Finally, did you also know that 48% of transgender folk are dissatisfied with the police response? In 2020 and 2021, there were 2,630 reported cases of hate crimes to transgender people that had been reported to the police, which is a 16% increase from the previous year. However, with that, a lot of the hate crime goes underreported, and out of the 108,100 responses that were given to the National LGBT Survey, 88% of trans people did not report the hate crime, however, those who did report, 48% found they were unsatisfied with the police response to the most serious types of incidents.

Finally, I want to talk about trans rights, and the hate crimes that transgender people face. Did you know that from the Home Office, that in 2021, there were 2,630 trandgender folk who were victims of hate crimes? Did you also know that 88% of transgender folk don’t report any of the hate crimes they experience to the Government Equalities Officer? Finally, did you also know that 48% of transgender folk are dissatisfied with the police response? In 2020 and 2021, there were 2,630 reported cases of hate crimes to transgender people that had been reported to the police, which is a 16% increase from the previous year. However, with that, a lot of the hate crime goes underreported, and out of the 108,100 responses that were given to the National LGBT Survey, 88% of trans people did not report the hate crime, however, those who did report, 48% found they were unsatisfied with the police response to the most serious types of incidents. From the Crown Prospective Services, did you know that 62% - 73% of transgender people have experienced harassment and violence because they were identified as transgender?

Did you also know that it is difficult for transgender folk to medically transition? This is due to a lot of factors such as therapy, money and the process. Did you also know, depending where you are from, it can take you from around 2 years to almost 10 years for someone to actually medically transition? For underaged transgender folk, it is even harder due to the fact they are too young to actually get any medical surgeries. However, things like socially transitioning, which means changing the clothes you wear, changing your hair, going by a different name can help socially.