9 Key Facts You Need To Know About The History Of Gay Pride

June is the month to be extra prideful of Pride and wear or display rainbows as much as possible. If you’re wondering though, where the tradition of Pride and celebrating the ever-evolving and inclusive LGBTQ community began, here are a few facts to keep in your pocket: 

The rainbow flag as a gay pride symbol made its debut at the San Francisco Pride Parade in 1978. Harvey Milk asked his good friend Gilbert Baker to design a unifying symbol for the gay community, and the rainbow flag was the result.

Harvey Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California. The critically-acclaimed 2008 film Milk, starring Sean Penn, was based on his life. 

The original LGBT flag was hand dyed and consisted of eight symbolic colours. Here are their meanings:

Pink – sexualityRed – lifeOrange – healingYellow – sunlightGreen – natureTurquoise – magic/artBlue – serenity/harmony

Purple – spirit

(Pink and turquoise were later removed from the flag due to production constraints and the need for design symmetry.)
 

June was chosen to be the LGBT Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York in June 1969, when gay bars were illegal. The brave activism displayed in the incident is considered the start of the gay liberation movement. 

Stonewall Inn, site of the 1969 Stonewall riots (Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons)

The oldest still-existing LGBT organisation in the world is Netherland’s Center for Culture and Leisure (COC). Founded in 1946, it adopted a vague name to mask its taboo purpose.

With an estimated 3.5 million attendees in 2011, Sao Paulo, Brazil hosted the world’s largest Pride Parade.

Europe has a Pan-European International Pride Event, called, appropriately, Europride.

Courtesy of @Flickr

Amsterdam is the only city whose Pride celebration literally floats on a river. The parade involves 100 decorated boats that sail through the city on the Prinsengracht River.

Courtesy of @PrideAmsterdam

The longest pride celebration lasts three to four weeks in Sydney, Australia each February, ending with Mardi Gras.

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