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The involvement of businesses in Pride events is sometimes called ‘commercialisation’. Similarly, reflecting upon how the Pride movement was started ensures that Pride month today still honours and belongs to the LGBTQ+ community rather than the big businesses that might pay for some events. Learning about how LGBTQ+ rights were won illuminates the importance of continuing to campaign for the rights of all LGBTQ+ people. Moreover, former US President Donald Trump took steps to roll back the protection of healthcare rights for transgender people. Being LGBTQ+ is still illegal in 74 countries, and is punishable by death in 12 of them. The LGBTQ+ activist charity Stonewall states that whilst ‘there is lots for us to celebrate there’s also a lot more work to be done’.
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A key example of this is the Campaign for Homosexual Equality.
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In the UK, for example, the Pride movement saw the growth and establishment of grassroots organisations that worked to stop the oppression of LGBTQ+ people. A key part of this movement was to encourage conversations about the lives and perceptions of LGBTQ+ people, and to fight for radical change in the way that LGBTQ+ people were treated by society. The Stonewall Riots gave a new impetus to the ‘Gay Liberation’ movement around the globe. This research shows us that, although the uprising at the Stonewall Inn was spontaneous, it was related to a long history of mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people in New York, and around the world. Despite this, broader research by historians such as Martin Duberman has shown that the LGBTQ+ community in New York had endured decades of raids and brutality at the hands of the NYC police's ‘Public Moral Squad’. Reports on what exactly took place on that day are unclear. In the raid that led to the Stonewall Riots, two police officers entered the Stonewall Inn and demanded to ‘check the sex’ of some of the bar’s customers by physical examination. The Stonewall Riots began on the 28th of June 1969 when the LGBTQ+ customers of New York City’s Stonewall Inn resisted police raids on their bar. Pride Month commemorates the June 1969 Stonewall Riots. This is an event which takes place in a different global city every year - in 2019, the WorldPride in New York City was estimated to have been attended by over 4 million people. This is a huge expansion from the first Pride parade held in New York, where police reports suggest there were around 2,000 attendees! In 2000, for example, WorldPride was founded. Pride celebrations have grown and diversified since the first parades in the early 1970s. From parades and concerts, to workshops and exhibitions, the events of Pride month enable LGBTQ+ people and allies to celebrate their genders and sexualities, discuss LGBTQ+ history, and advocate for further change. Pride is an annual global event which is celebrated every June. This guide reflects on the origins of the movement, and considers how the history of Pride can help shape how we celebrate in the present. Pride is a month-long celebration of LGBTQ+ lives, history and culture.