As a celebration of Pride Month, the digital world adopts a rainbow colour scheme. Companies rebrand themselves, Google releases a special doodle, and multinational corporations announce new campaigns and policies promoting gender diversity and inclusivity. In June, there is an increase in vocal expressions of solidarity for the LGBTQ community through discussions, seminars, galleries, and vibrant pride parades held in cities worldwide. The perplexing question for many is: What is the true meaning of ‘pride’ and where does it originate?
Pride Month, typically observed in June, is a celebration of diverse gender identities that go beyond heteronormativity. However, while the month is well-known, many are unaware of its historical significance. One pivotal event is “The Stonewall Riots” in New York, which erupted when the gay community spontaneously protested a violent police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. This uprising marked a turning point in the ongoing struggle for the community’s liberation, especially as more gay and lesbian bars emerged in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the movement flourished, gaining acceptance, and embracing the multifaceted identity represented by the rainbow.
Although we know it today as pride, within its history, the movement and the communities have seen repeated overturning of symbols which were often used as symbols of oppression. This was deliberately reinterpreted to be made symbols of breaking the same oppression. During the Nazi regime, members of the LGBTQ+ community (mostly gay men), were branded on their uniforms with a “pink triangle of shame”. It displayed a period of sexual violence and terrorizing of gender identity and existence. After the collapse of Germany in World War II, the gay communities of Europe came to exercise this breaking of oppressive symbols by collectively embracing the homophobic pink triangle as a novel symbol of pride. The modern usage of the term ‘queer’ as a positive, ambiguous and open approach towards sexuality and identity. It is also a deliberate rebranding of the more dated and derogatory usage of the same word. These are highly political acts of abdicating symbols of oppression and tyranny to create a socio-political clean-slate whilst remaining conscious of the past. It is thus the collective creation of an atmosphere of love, hope and coexistence.
During the 1970s, Gilbert Baker, an American artist, drag performer, war veteran, and queer activist, collaborated with Harvey Milk, the first openly gay San Francisco city supervisor. Together, they create a symbol representing queer pride and a life free from homophobia reminiscent of Nazi atrocities. They intended it to be a vibrant celebration of a “rainbow solidarity.” On June 25, 1978, Baker’s rainbow pride flag was raised for the first time at the San Francisco Pride Parade. The original rainbow design featured pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet. Each of the colours symbolised various aspects like sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, serenity, and spirit. This design drew inspiration from The Rolling Stones’ 1967 funky, psychedelic track “She’s a Rainbow”. At that time, it was the soundtrack of an anti-war celebration of love. Over time, the colours and their meanings have evolved to include a broader range of communities, identities, and aspirations within the LGBTQ+ movement. The Human Rights Campaign, an American LGBTQ+ rights group, has recognized up to 25 different pride flags on its website. The widely used acronym LGBT (representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) has expanded to encompass additional elements such as Queer, Intersex, Allied, Asexual, Pansexual, and the “+” or “++” signs, which emphasise inclusivity and diversity. The struggles of LGBTQIA++ communities have frequently intersected with those of other marginalised groups, such as African Americans and Hispanics in America, refugees in Europe, and Dalits in India.
The recognition of Pride Month varies across countries, with some officially acknowledging it while others do so unofficially. In June 1999, US President Bill Clinton declared the anniversary of the Stonewall riots as “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.” In 2011, President Barack Obama expanded the recognition to encompass the entire LGBTQ+ community. During President Donald Trump’s tenure, there were fluctuations in the official policy regarding Pride Month. The current President, Joe Biden, has undergone a significant shift in his stance, evolving from an opponent of gay marriage and LGBTQ+ education to a proponent of legal recognition and rights for the LGBTQ+ community in the United States. LGBTQ+ recognition and rights frequently feature as prominent topics in presidential campaigns in many Western countries, with political candidates utilising these issues to garner support from both pro and anti-queer expressions.
In the 21st century, there has been a notable divide in the politicisation of Pride Month and LGBTQ+ issues. The political right has remained outrightly opposed to the demands for rights and recognition for the communities, by terming these demands as “woke”. The term originally built to mean being aware of the systemic inequalities in society, although more contemporarily connected to “cancel culture” or Social Justice Warriors,. (SJWs is another pejorative term, for people with liberal views). The LGBTQ+ communities and pride parades around the world have been attacked by force or other means by conservative groups, and this is also in unmissable connection with other issues like the biological freedom of women over abortion, marriage, legalisation of drugs, etc. The political left, on the other hand, has been more ambiguous and looming over a spectrum of varying intensities in terms of its commitment to the LGBTQ+ communities. It is more observable that these issues, like other controversial themes, are used politically to polarise opinions and create vacuums for political gain than generate meaningful discourses for constructive progress where the identity and existence of no group or individual is threatened.
Utilising the vulnerable social and commercial position of sociocultural and political groups is never exclusive to the field of party politics. It is inextricably linked to the economy surrounding it. Modern conglomerates rebrand themselves on Pride Month to don the rainbow theme, while their themes stay unchanged in regions that are openly anti-LBGTQ+. Major global brands like Adidas, Mercedes, L’Oréal, etc. proudly gaud the rainbow flag through most regions, including India, as part of their Pride Month campaign, with Pride-specific marketing strategies, while their social media handles and marketing strategies are opaque to the rainbow hue in other economies, namely the Middle East countries. This goes to show how, though for many people LGBTQ+ solidarity and the history and culture of Pride means something personal, essential and substantial that is fundamentally connected to their individual and community life, while it assumes a different function in the modern capitalist world, where the position and relevance of all “brands” are determined by its ability to accrue economic gain for its investors.
This makes it all the more important for us to understand the revolutionary history of LGBTQ+ movements as socially, culturally and politically interweaved units through time. Pride is a collective breath of emotion. It is a vibrant, inclusive celebration of the many identities, sexualities and erotic aspirations and existences to sculpt a more progressive social space where everyone can live their lives unafraid. But we exist in a political and economic fabric where this current of love and self-identification is channeled to be a mere marketing strategy or an instrument of political polarisation, a time where love becomes the greatest revolutionary act. In India, at a time where the legalization of same-sex marriage is intensely debated beyond the confines of judiciary and legislature, spanning through every cell of the Indian society, it becomes vital to understand the historical significance of the movement and of June being assigned a month of the exaltation and celebration of diversities and pluralities. As globally the space for free and diverse thought and life shrinks, as majoritarianism poses a serious threat to inclusivity and democracy, it becomes crucial for all progressive, and narrow minds alike, to be aware of the politics and history of the Pride Month.
Edited By S Santhosh Mohan
Article 19 