A guide to LGBTQ Pride
There’s no getting around the fact, 2020 messed up a whole lot of stuff – including LGBTQ Pride celebrations.
In the US, June is officially Pride Month, but Pride celebrations are normally happening throughout the year in different parts of the world.
While some of the early events were able to be held before the pandemic hit, and cities such as Taipei and Brisbane – which were largely isolated from Covid-19 – were able to go ahead with Pride events, pretty much everything else was cancelled.
Sure, there were some much appreciated and much needed online events that helped keep our community connected, but the absence of Pride events left a big whole in our lives.
Will we be able to celebrate Pride in 2021?
Things are looking hopeful, but not certain.
Obviously, different parts of the world are at different stages in their response to the virus. Vaccines are being rolled out, but it’s going to take time to get the level of coverage required in order to make large public events possible again.
It’s likely that most Pride events in 2021 will be smaller than in years gone past, and we’re likely to continue to see a strong emphasis on digital events.
We’re going to try to keep an eye on plans around the world, but everyone’s main focus should be on supporting the vaccine roll-out as that gives us all a lot more options.
Looking ahead to Pride celebrations around the world
Canada
- It looks like Toronto is sticking with a virtual event for 2021, with a virtual parade planned for 27 June.
United States
- In previous years, this event has been held in April. But in 2021, they’re looking at dates in September. 10-19 September is what they’re planning.
- They’re planning a virtual celebration on 16 May.
- They’re targeting dates of 11-13 June, although they’re not sure yet what shape the event will take.
- Dates for 2021 have been announced as 2-6 June.
- Possibly happening in June, details not yet announced.
- Organisers have announced a date of 27 June, but have confirmed that this year’s celebrations will all be online.
- They’re planning to hold a series of events throughout the month of June.
- Possibly happening in June, details not yet announced.
- They’re still developing their plans but are targeting 17-18 July for a Pride weekend.
South America
- A date for 2021 has been announced, they’re looking at 6 June.
UK
- Organisers have announced that they’re looking at 11 September for London’s Pride celebrations. The format of the event is still being developed.
- An online festival is planned for 2-4 July.
- Organisers have announced that there will be no celebrations in 2021, with the event to return in 2022.
- Possibly happening in July, details not yet announced.
- Organisers have confirmed it will be a virtual Pride in 2021, 24 July is the date.
- The event had been planned for 6-8 August, but organisers have announced that they have had to cancel the 2021 celebrations due to continuing uncertainty about Covid-19 and challenges around event insurance.
- There’s likely to be some smaller community events during the summer, but we’ll have to wait until 2022 before we (hopefully) get back to a big Pride in Brighton.
- Organisers have confirmed that their 2021 celebrations will be taking place 10 July.
- Possibly happening in July, details not yet announced.
- Organisers have announced that they’re looking at 25-26 September for their 2021 Pride event.
Europe
- No Pride in 2021, holding things over until 2022.
- They’re targeting a date of 22 June.
- Possibly happening in June, details not yet announced.
- They’re looking at 4-11 June for their 2021 Pride celebrations.
- Dates for 2021 have been announced – they’re aiming to be back bigger and better on 12 June 2021.
- It looks like organisers are aiming for 11 June for the 2021 celebrations.
- Happening on 26 June.
- Thessaloniki was selected as the 2020 hosts of EuroPride, with the event originally scheduled to take place on 27 June. However, the event couldn’t go ahead as planned – it’s not yet clear what that means for EuroPride.
- Organisers have announced plans for 2021 celebrations to be held on 25 June – 4 July.
- Normally held in early July each year. Details of plans for 2021 have not yet been announced.
- Organisers have announced plans for 2021 celebrations to be held on 24 July.
- This is a spectacular Pride event because of the parade of boats on the city’s canal.
- Dates for 2021 have been confirmed. The 2021 boat parade will be on 7 August.
- Dates for 2021 have been confirmed – the Pride festival will run from 12-22 August. Copenhagen will be hosting World Pride as well as the Eurogames. Restrictions will be in place but organisers have confirmed that they are able to proceed with some activities.
- Normally held at the beginning of September. Organisers have not yet announced plans for 2021.
- Organisers are planning to hold the 2021 celebrations on 6-16 May.
- Winter Pride in Maspalomas is scheduled for 8-14 November.
Asia
- 2021 celebrations were held in April. Dates for 2022 have not yet been announced.
- Normally held at the end of October, dates for 2021 have not yet been confirmed.
Africa
- This event is normally held in February, but that wasn’t possible in 2021. It’s not clear if they are planning to hold anything during 2021 or if they’ll hold it over until 2022.
Australia
- Sydney successfully held their 2021 Mardi Gras celebrations in March.
- Dates for 2022 have not yet been confirmed.
- Melbourne’s Midsumma festival is normally held in January, but in 2021 the event was held in early May.
- Dates for 2022 haven’t yet been announced.
- Brisbane’s Pride celebrations are normally in September. Plans for 2021 have not yet been announced.
Why is June recognised as Pride Month?
Across the United States – and in many other parts of the world – the month of June is officially recognised as a time to celebrate LGBTQ Pride.
The month of June is significant because the Stonewall riots took place at the end of June in 1969.
Brenda Howard is credited with being one of the main driving forces in coordinating the first LGBTQ Pride march. Howard is also credited with the idea for a week-long series of events around Pride Day. Additionally, Howard – along with fellow activists Robert Martin and Craig Schoonmaker – is credited with popularising the word Pride to describe these events.
Throughout the month of June, towns and cities across the US and around the world hold LGBTQ Pride celebrations.
Why were the Stonewall riots a big deal?
The Stonewall riots of 28 June 1969 weren’t the first protests or confrontations between police and the LGBTQ community, but they’ve become symbolic of the growing consciousness and confidence that paved the way for the fight for equality and freedom from discrimination.
What triggered the Stonewall riots was a police raid on the Stonewall Inn. In the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn was a mafia-run bar that was a hub for the neighbourhood’s marginalised queer community.
In the late 60s, police raids on bars like the Stonewall Inn were commonplace – part of the continuing harassment and victimisation that LGBTQ people were experiencing at that time. The raid on the Stonewall Inn on 28 June 1969 sparked that sense of frustration into violent protests – protests that lasted six days and involved thousands of people. Perhaps most importantly, the riots received widespread media coverage.
Prior to the Stonewall riots, the push for LGBTQ equality was led by ‘homophile’ advocates – organisations such as the Mattachine Society. The Mattachine Society sought to organise and speak for gay men, and they favoured assimilation. Their objective was to demonstrate that gay men were ‘normal’ and just like everybody else.
Following the Stonewall riots, and in line with the counter-culture movements of the late-60s, representatives of the LGBTQ community became increasingly emboldened and more confrontational. New organisations were established, community-focused newspapers were published, and there was more of a willingness to be open, to be visible, to be different.
It was on the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots, 28 June 1970, that the first Gay Pride marches were held . The LGBTQ communities of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago held events to commemorate the raid on the Stonewall Inn and the violent confrontation that followed. The following year, Gay Pride marches were also held in Boston, Dallas, Milwaukee, London, Paris, West Berlin, and Stockholm . In subsequent years, the number of cities participating continued to grow.
Today, Pride events and celebrations are a big moment. They’re an important and symbolic opportunity for our community to come together, to celebrate our diversity and our visibility as well as our strength and resilience.
If you’re growing up in today’s world, starting to navigate your sexuality, starting to understand how you connect with the LGBTQ community that you see around you, it’s important to understand how LGBTQ identity has evolved over time, and the role that events such as the Stonewall riots have played in that.
History is important because it helps us learn from those that have gone before us – the battles that have been fought, the struggles that have been won, the mistakes that have been made.
You might not feel that you’ve got much connection with the people who lived in New York City in 1969, but it’s because of those people – because of their lifetimes of harassment and discrimination that culminated in six nights of violence – that we can proudly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer, or however you want to define yourself within the broad LGBTQ umbrella. It’s because of those people that we can live openly as ourselves, that we can get married if we want, that we can have families if we want, that we have the freedom to lead the lives that we want. It’s because of those people that we continue to hold Pride marches around the world.
We honour the marginalised people of Greenwich Village – people who had nothing left to lose, people who were pushed so far that they had no alternative but to stand up to harassment and stand up to discrimination .
When is World Pride?
In 2019, World Pride was held in New York City to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.
World Pride is an international Pride celebration that happens every two years. A different city hosts World Pride each time.
Since it began in 2000, World Pride has been held in the following cities:
- 2000: Rome
- 2006: Jerusalem
- 2012: London
- 2014: Toronto
- 2017: Madrid
- 2019: New York City
Future World Pride events are scheduled for Copenhagen in 2021, and Sydney in 2023.
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