Pride Month is an emotional and magical time for the LGBTQ community, featuring bright colors, loud music and a whole lot of – well, pride. What started as a protest outside the Stonewall Inn in 1969 snowballed into a global phenomenon about the fight for LGBTQ rights and speaking out against an unaccepting world. The community recognizes Black and Latina transgender women specifically for their overwhelming courage in the face of agonizing adversity.
While many countries around the world have embraced the LGBTQ community, many others have not – a reminder of the importance to keep shouting loud and proud all month (and year) long.
Here's a look back at recent Pride celebrations. The coronavirus pandemic may again halt full-scale celebrations in 2021, but vaccinated LGBTQ people may be able to more readily gather.
Kyle Motsinger, center, participates in the second annual Stonewall Day honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village, June 28, 2019, in New York.
Love is love
A participant holds a banner before the annual gay pride march in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2019.
A crowd waves rainbow flags during the Heritage Pride March in New York, June 28, 2015.
Scotty Brown, 32, left, of Chicago, kisses Roger Knight, 31, of Chicago, as they get married during the Chicago Pride Parade on Broadway Street on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Chicago.
A participant at the 2019 annual gay pride march in Belgrade, Serbia
A crowd waves rainbow flags during the Heritage Pride March in New York, Sunday, June 28, 2015. Large turnouts were expected for gay pride parades across the U.S. following the landmark Supreme Court ruling that said gay couples can marry anywhere in the country.
Scotty Brown, 32, left, of Chicago, kisses Roger Knight, 31, of Chicago, as they get married during the Chicago Pride Parade on Broadway Street on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Chicago.
Honoring LGBTQ civil rights
Gay marriage plaintiff Jim Obergefell, center, waves during the Cincinnati Pride parade, Saturday, June 27, 2015, in Cincinnati.
Edie Windsor, who successfully sued the United States government over the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), waves to revelers while riding in the New York Gay Pride Parade on June 30, 2013 in New York City.
Billie Jean King attends the 2018 New York City Pride March on June 24, 2018 in New York City.
Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Whoopi Goldberg and Angelica Ross attend the WorldPride NYC 2019 Opening Ceremony at Barclays Center on June 26, 2019 in New York City.
The Pride Flag: a symbol of unity
There are many different Pride flags beyond the traditional rainbow, including flags for lesbians, genderfluid individuals and people with other sexual orientations and gender identities.
"Pride flags are a bold visual representation of the movement," Jessica Stern, executive director of OutRight Action International said. "And, rightly so, there are many, echoing the diversity of identities within the LGBTIQ community, and the need for everyone to be seen and recognized."
Mark Wilson carries a rainbow flag during San Francisco's 42nd annual gay pride parade on Sunday, June 24, 2012. Organizers say more than 200 floats, vehicles and groups of marchers took part in the parade.
A rainbow light display illuminates the night sky in the West Village neighborhood of New York near The Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the gay rights movement, on Saturday, June 27, 2020.
The White House is lightened in the rainbow colors in Washington on June 26. 2015.
San Francisco's Civic Center is lit up in Rainbow Lights in honor of Gay Pride in California on Saturday, June 29, 2013.
A man walks on steps covered in rainbow colors for Pride Month at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on June 15, 2019 in New York City.
A participant in the annual Pride Parade in London on July 7, 2018.
Revelers take part in the annual Pride Parade in London on June 28, 2014.
Celebrating a diverse community
Members of Georgia's transgender and non-binary community stroll through the city's Midtown district during Gay Pride Festival's Transgender Rights March in Atlanta, Oct. 12, 2019.
Hailey Foster, left, of Dover and Geena Handy of Camden celebrate Delaware's first Pride Parade in downtown Dover on June 1, 2019.
Members of the transgender community and their supporters attend a rally for transgender equality on Capitol Hill, June 9, 2017 in Washington, DC.
People celebrate as they take part in the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march on June 28, 2020 in New York City. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 parade was canceled.
A person in costume participates in a gay pride parade in Mexico City, June 2, 2012.
A man wears a costume during Mexico City's annual gay pride parade, June 28, 2014.
Daniela Lopez smiles as she walks under a rainbow held by two men during a gay pride celebration in Dolores Park on June 27, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.
A participant in the annual Pride in London Parade on June 27, 2015.
Thousands of people celebrate the 2019 Greater Palm Springs Pride Parade in Palm Springs, Calif., on Sunday, November 3, 2019.
A woman holds balloons as she participates in the first Gay Pride Parade in Beersheba, Israel, Thursday, June 22, 2017.
Rainbow flags cover a set of windows in Soho as Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community hold the annual Pride Parade in London on July 6, 2019.
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