🌈 As Pride Month Comes to a Close, Let’s Remember Why It Still Matters. 🏳️🌈
PRIDE Parade in Picton, Ontario
Hello!
PRIDE Month, June 2026, is wrapping up in a few days, and today, June 28, some of the largest PRIDE parades are taking place in New York City, Toronto, Chicago, and San Francisco. Cities across Europe, South America, Scandinavia, Asia, and Oceania have also held huge events in the last week. London, England’s PRIDE parade is scheduled for July 4.
It was 57 years ago today, on June 28, 1969, that the Stonewall uprising began in New York City. It became a pivotal moment in history when members of the LGBTQIA+. The community said, “Enough,” fought back against police harassment, and helped ignite the modern queer rights movement.
I’m a cisgender heterosexual woman who has supported PRIDE since the 1980s, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Last Saturday, we attended a PRIDE parade in our small town of Picton, and it was full of love, joy, and celebration.
Leading up to PRIDE events, I have felt heartbroken and angered by some of the nasty, homophobic, and hateful comments I’ve seen on Facebook in response to posts with pictures of rainbow flags, rainbow crosswalks, and information about upcoming community events:
“I’m sick and tired of this being shoved down my throat.”
“I feel excluded because heterosexuals are not included in the rainbow flag.”
“This is ridiculous. We don’t give veterans a whole month, and they fought for our country.”
“June is men’s mental health month. How come they aren’t getting any attention?”
“Just live your life and stop advertising who you sleep with.”
“Pride is all about grooming.”
These outrageous and ignorant comments are clear evidence of why PRIDE is still so important and still so needed.
PRIDE has never excluded anyone, and it has never taken anything away from veterans, men’s mental health, families, children, faith, or community. Since when does supporting one group mean we are less supportive of another?
PRIDE exists because LGBTQIA+. people have been excluded, criminalized, bullied, shamed, rejected, attacked, and murdered. In many parts of the world, LGBTQIA+ community is still denied basic human rights, dignity, and safety.
I have never had to fear rejection, discrimination, violence, or public hostility because of who I love. That is a privilege I don’t take lightly.
I do know what it feels like to experience sexism, misogyny, harassment, and being dismissed because I’m a woman. But I also know that my experiences do not erase or equal the particular harms that the LGBTQIA+. community have faced and continues to face.
I have never had to worry about being out in public with my husband or showing affection. I have never had to wonder whether holding his hand would make us unsafe. I have never had to hide who I love or wonder whether I belong.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
PRIDE is about belonging, dignity, and being proud of who you are. It is about remembering those who fought before, supporting those who are still fighting, and making sure younger generations know they are loved, valued, and not alone.
When I saw the PRIDE flags posted and the crosswalks painted in rainbows over the last few weeks, I thought about how meaningful those signs of support might be for a young person struggling with their identity and wondering if it is safe to come out. Seeing those symbols might help them feel less alone. They might help them believe that they are allowed to be who they truly are and that they belong.
If the sight of a rainbow flag or crosswalk makes someone feel angry or threatened, then that is exactly why they need to be seen.
A flag and a crosswalk are not a threat, and they do not have an agenda. A PRIDE celebration is not asking anyone else to change who they are. It is asking people to allow the LGBTQ+ community to be safe and comfortable showing who they are.
For decades, and still today, LGBTQIA+.people have been told to hide, be quiet, feel ashamed, or live in fear.
PRIDE says the opposite.
PRIDE says you are seen.
You are loved.
You belong.
And even now, in 2026, the backlash is loud. The cruelty is still there. The misinformation is still there. The hate is still there.
That is exactly why Pride still matters.
The LGBTQIA+ community has consistently knocked down walls of discrimination through activism, demonstrations, community engagement, music, art, and politics.
When people say, “Why do we still need Pride?” my answer is: look at the comments. Look at the anger that appears when a rainbow flag is raised. Look at how quickly some people become furious when LGBTQIA+. people are simply visible.
That reaction tells us everything we need to know.
Pride is not about special treatment. It is about equal treatment.
It is about families showing love—communities showing support. Allies are refusing to stay silent.
I will never understand why some people feel so threatened by another person’s freedom to live honestly and openly. But I do know this: hateful comments do not make Pride less necessary. They make it more necessary.
I’m working on my anger about these attitudes, and I’ll admit that I find it challenging to feel compassion at times. But at the very least, I can say that I feel pity for people who carry this kind of hate. It cannot feel good to live with a closed heart, unable to accept the dignity, humanity, and joy of others.
So yes, I will keep writing about Pride. I will keep supporting Pride. I will keep celebrating Pride.
Because love, visibility, and belonging should never be controversial.
Hello!
June is Pride Month, and we are halfway through the month. There are still celebrations to be had, including the largest pride parades and festivals on June 28th and 29th in Toronto, San Francisco, and New York City.
PRIDE is a time for celebration, festivities, connection, and protest, which I’ve participated in for decades. I was first introduced to Pride in the 1980s when I lived in a small ground-level apartment at Church and Wellesley in Toronto. One early June morning, we were awakened by loud music and boisterous singing and saw a long chorus line of individuals dressed in the most outlandish outfits performing the cancan. We jumped out of bed and went to Church Street, where we discovered many booths and stages being set up. We spoke to some participants, and first heard about Pride, and at that time, we saw it as a party and significant celebration, which it was, but as we learned, there is an essential rich history that needs to be remembered and rejoiced in. The LGBTQIA+ community has consistently knocked down walls of discrimination through activism, demonstrations, community engagement, music, art, and politics.
This liberation movement in North America began with New York City’s unprecedented Stonewall Riots, which took place on June 28th, 1969. The NYPD had attempted a raid on a popular gay bar in the heart of Greenwich Village that night, but the bar’s patrons had had enough, fought back hard, and won. Since then, Pride has evolved from a relatively small, grassroots event to a worldwide celebration with more than 1 million participants at WorldPride 2014 in Toronto. Pride represents the full spectrum of gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, and ability.
2026 World Pride Themes
“For All of Us”.
Resistance in Action
"Many Voices. One Front."
"Exist. Resist. Have the Audacity!"
We Won't Stop
“Haltung ist hot” ("Taking a Stand Is Hot").
While discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ people persist in many places, significant strides have been made in recent decades. In Canada, the LGBTQIA+ community has enjoyed many victories:
The decriminalization of homosexuality received royal assent in June 1969.
The first gay rights protest occurred in 1971.
In 1992, the Federal Court lifted the ban on gays and lesbians in the military.
In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians could apply for refugee status based on facing persecution in their countries of origin.
In 1995, a ruling in Ontario allowed same-sex couples to adopt.
In 2003, the first same-sex couple married in Canada.
The above-mentioned legal achievements are fantastic, but did you know that conversion therapy only became illegal in all provinces and territories in Canada in 2022? Did you know that more than 65 countries still criminalize LGBTQIA+ people, some with the death penalty? Source This is changing, but far too slowly, and the most recent countries to have repealed their anti-gay laws are Dominica, Mauritius, the Cook Islands, Singapore, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Barbados, Bhutan, and Gabon.
This map shows countries where sexual relations between people of the same sex are illegal, and the areas in red have no known legislative efforts or court challenges to remove them. Source
Unfortunately, it is not surprising, given the current political climate, that the FBI has stated that the incidence of violence against the LGBTQ communities has increased. Now, 1 in 5 hate crimes is motivated by anti-LGBTQ bias. These incidents are happening in countries that have constitutions that are supposed to protect an individual’s freedoms and rights. Source
Rainbow Umbrellas, Picton, Ontario.
Educate yourself about LGBTQ+ history and current issues to better understand and support the community. Celebrate and be with others who support Pride and get involved. If attending Pride events is not your thing, then take some time to pause and reflect on how you can be a model of inclusion in your life, committing to listening, understanding, and learning. Always speak up when you see or hear homophobic comments. Outside the month’s focus, commit to being a positive voice for equity and justice and remain hopeful.
Pride permits all of us to be authentic and genuine. We all need to belong and feel accepted, and no one should be told who and how to love.
What are your plans for Pride?
Happy Pride!
Anita
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