Stonewall Inn, a GAY club in Greenwich Village New York City beholds many love tales. Where we as a normal human beings were feeling sickened by even talking about this, they (LGBTQIA+ community) had different plans for their community and to express themselves overtly. But on June 28, 1969, this club witnessed something which will cause you to sheer fear of liberty. When New York City police raided this homosexual club, and eventually this raid transformed into a riot among bar patrons and inhabitants of the area as police officer harshly dismissed employees and patrons out of the bar and it became 6 days protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. And this is was it now it was the time to ignite an uprising that would inaugurate a new era of resistance and revolution. After a year of this Stonewall riot, there was a march from the same spot in Stonewall to 6th Avenue, the first official Pride parade was carried out with Christopher Street Liberation Day and the tradition has continued till date.
What is pride month..???
For past decades LGBT folks and allies have been struggled hard for the right to marry, adoption of children, start families, combat prejudice, etc. So here is the initiative to acknowledge them with pride in all ways. And so it was June became the global Pride Month in memory of that uprising. . And it was in remembrance of that rebellion that June became the world pride month. It was taken in entirely to help them in this month of June, equality, teaching acceptance of peculiarity, making people educate, and above all, love. This month make us realize that we need to damage this homophobia and why we need to get rid of it. It is about no matter who you are and whom do you love. Mainly it is about that everyone has the right to live, laugh, and love with liberty and dignity. Every human is beautiful.
Some brands campaign
When world was hating to talk about this all-time disliked topic Indian government had the heroism to decriminalized section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. While the laws have changed for the better, many Indian brands were able to give a voice to this community through their campaigns and dared to speak up and break this taboo to some extent.
1. Fastrack’s The Closet - The first brand in India to show a lesbian couple. It urges the youth to come out of their isolation mode and be vocal about it.
2. OkCupid’s - #LoveAtFirstPride this digital campaign celebrates and acknowledges love beyond binary identities. It spread the message of equal representation of different sexual orientations.
3. Vicks’ Touch of Care - Normalizing trans motherhood in India, Vicks initiated a conversation. It emphasized how motherhood goes beyond biological ties with transgender activist Gauri Sawant, who also runs an NGO called Sakhi Char Chowghi. It showcased her real-life story of bringing up a girl.
4. Adidas - Adidas has a long history of celebrating Pride by dropping a new shoe collection, The retailer just released Love Unites, which features an assortment of Pride-themed footwear, plus apparel, and accessories.
5. Bobo’s - This Colorado-based snack brand offers a special Pride-themed bar this year, and using it as an opportunity to showcase work from LGBTQ artists Ludi Leiva, Shanee Benjamin, and Cheyne Gallarde.
6. Kay Beauty - Katrina Kaif’s beauty brand shared some beautiful posts and wrote, “We Stand Together”. And became the first beauty brand to promote models from the LGBTQ community.
Some companies celebrate this
1. Wipro
The LGBT+ inclusion program is a core pillar of the firm’s diversity program. It has gender-neutral restroom signage. For recruitment, they use gender-neutral language. The management is tracking LGBT+ inclusion and training employees by including LGBT+ framed questions in their monthly unconscious bias quiz. The firm has also started to engage externally, attending Pride parades for the first time in 2018.
2. Godrej
In 2011, Godrej housed the India Culture Lab, an open to all platform to foster a far-flung of conversations on contemporary India, including LGBT+ people. In parallel to launching the India Culture Lab, Godrej also updated its policies to include anti-discrimination, equitable benefits for same-sex couples, and gender reassignment provisions for trans employees. They have also produced videos with LGBT+ individuals discussing Godrej’s anti-discrimination culture.
3. Apple
In support of the LGBTQ community, Apple has came up with these two new Apple Watch Pride bands this year, as well as a new Pride watch face for users. The brand also supports a number of LGBTQ advocacy organization's, including Encircle (which offers safe spaces for LGBTQ youth, young adults, and families), the National Center for Transgender Equality (which is committed to social justice advocacy for transgender humans) and others.
Some bold people sharing their stories
So, the world is changing and so our mind needs to change, it is the right time to look at the other side of the world and felicitate it with open arms. While we acknowledge the progress we’ve made, we also need to be realistic and also remember that we still have a long way to go. Here's hoping that the world will soon accept love and lovers without discrimination. Happy Pride Month!
Source -
https://www.history.com/news/stonewall-riots-timeline
Written By: Avani Dangi
Very well written Avani!
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