The Importance of Pride Month

Caitlyn Woodbury

caitlyn.gabsbitesizeblogs@gmail.com

Hope everyone is having a great pride month so far; whether you are in or out of the closet. Every year we hear the same rhetoric “why isn’t there a straight pride?”, “what about [insert group that have another celebration]”. At first glance these are understandable questions, so I would like to delve deeper into what pride is, and why it is still needed to this day.

Specifically in the UK, the first pride march took place in 1972 as a reminder for the Stonewall riots that took place 3 years prior in America. At this time, homosexuality had recently been decriminalised, but the age of consent was higher than straight couples, they could not marry, they could not adopt and they could not be in the military. For transgender people, this was worse, with the UK not allowing legal gender change until 2004. This march was to push for the rights that the community still did not have.

So what about now? These rights are here in the UK but there are still marches everywhere? Well, whoever you ask may have a different story. Many go to pride to celebrate who they are to make up for the time that they couldn’t. Some go to remember those before us, to honour the sacrifices they made so that we can live better today. But for the most part, we are still fighting for those in the community that do not have these rights.

In the UK, conversion therapy is still legal, meaning that young people can be sent away in order to “change” their sexuality or gender identity. And for transgender people it is getting worse. The Supreme Court recently ruled that identity must be based on sex, not gender. This means that trans women cannot enter “women’s only” spaces, but trans men can. It was a great hit on the community, and makes it seem as if we are heading down a dark path. Thus, it was no surprise when it was revealed that the UK has dropped to 22nd out of 49th on the Rainbow Map (an indicator of LGBTQ+ rights), when we used to be 1st. With many politicians appealing to right-wing views, it is unclear where it will go from here.

But whilst the UK is looking scary, the worldwide view is even scarier. Homosexuality is still illegal in 66 countries, with 12 of these having the death penalty as a punishment. 13 countries criminalise expression of gender identity that does not match biological sex, and only 39 countries allow trans people to change their names. Currently, only 2 countries (Iceland and Malta) fit all the criteria for legal gender recognition.

So, why do we need pride? To honour the generations before us who couldn’t be themselves, and to use their strength to fight for those who still need it. This is why we have pride, and we are not going anywhere until every single member of the community has rights all across the world!