Kicking off the month of June, gay pride celebrations started on Thursday, June 1 with different festival events all month.

Pride Month was created to support the LGBT community. Events are held to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City on June 28, 1969. Most historians consider the uprising to be the birth of the modern LGBT movement.

During this time, police raids on bars catering to LGBT patrons were common, but late at night on June 28, the patrons fought back at the Stonewall Inn. While claims from the occasion changed, the fierce reaction set off a national firestorm of activists that conveyed a new perception of the battles for LGBTQ+ equality.

Freshman Ruchika Ramu says, “Personally, Pride month is a beautiful celebration of all the diverse aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community, and is a great way to spread awareness of the different types of sexualities and genders as well as hardships and triumphs of the community. Being part of this loving community can be hard to those who can’t speak out about who they are, or for those who have the strong desire to be open about themselves but face rejection from the people they care about the most. That’s why pride month is so important – it spreads crucial information about the community whilst simultaneously celebrating their diversity.”

In a few cities, Pride festivities continue for an entire weekend or for a whole week, while in different areas, occasions happen at various times of the year.

Although President Donald Trump has yet to issue a proclamation for LGBTQ+ Pride Month, everyone, like the U.S. Air Force, is ready to celebrate.

On June 12, armed forces plan to continue their tradition by holding a special event at the Pentagon. Many speakers, including gay, lesbian, and transgender people come and tell personal stories and reflect on President Barack Obama’s decision to open the ranks to them six years ago.

Outside the Pentagon, a list of Pride events was published by a group called MilitaryPartners.org. At Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, MilitaryPartners say a 5K Rainbow Run will be happening soon.

The Pentagon is displaying a new poster for this month’s celebration. It shows a mass of hanging identification dog tags with the caption “Department of Defense LGBT Pride Month. Pride In All Who Serve.”

Not only is the Pentagon conducting special events, NYC is dedicating special events for the LGBTQ community including Nightgowns, Dinner with the Divas, Black Queer Brooklyn on Film, The Lavander Lines: Coming Out in Queens, and many more. For more events and details, visit TimeOut’s website.

NYC likewise posted an imaginative commercial in the tram framework to advise others of the occasions happening this month. On top of the signs is a beautiful rainbow to snatch individuals’ attention. Underneath states the occasion, “Pride Month June 1-June 30.” It also states, “No bigotry, hatred, and prejudice at this station.”

Facebook introduced new features to their app to celebrate, as well. Some features include masks and frames, which can be found in the Facebook camera. It can be accessed by swiping to the left of News Feed and clicking on the magic wand.

Instagram also made Pride Month stickers for Instagram Stories, including Pride-themed stickers and impacts. They additionally have a rainbow brush to draw over pictures.

Beside social media, Equinox fitness has created a video to show how diverse the LGBTQ+ community is. The video is labeled explicit for matue audiences and is called “LGBTQAlphabet: Six Letters Will Never Be Enough.”

The video demonstrates 26 distinct voices to explain what each letter means to them. The A-Z themed video is intended to expand the meaning of being a member of the LGBTQ+ group, and to give a more encompassing portrayal of experiences of LGBTQ+ members. Letters like “B” stands for “Bisexual” and “Q” for “Queer.”

Freshman Ruchika Ramu says, “For pride month, I’ll be celebrating by showing my support to the community, and to spread more awareness about the people in the community to ensure that more people will have a safe place to be who they truly are.”

Each sexuality has its own flag. For example, pansexuality is represented by a horizontal stripped flag with pink on top, yellow in the middle, and blue on the bottom. The most famous sexuality flag is the rainbow flag for homosexuality, but this year people are protesting to add two more strips to the flag. Above the red stripe, people want to add a dark brown strip and above that a black stripe. The new stripes are an inclusionary way to highlight brown and black LGBTQ+ members within the community.

Freshman Jenna Faber says, “I feel Pride Month is a very good thing. It’s good because it lets people be themselves, and helps show that love is love. It’s kinda like Black history month except, obviously, instead of celebrating black culture, we celebrate being ourselves.”

How do you feel about Pride Month? What are you going to do to celebrate?