June 2023: PRIDE Month
Contributor: The I.D.E.A Committee
Originally started as a way to honor the Stonewall Riots, PRIDE started in 1970 as a way to celebrate members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Today, cities all over the United States and the world celebrate PRIDE to uplift voices and seek equal rights. Many parades have a theme to their PRIDE parades, though Buffalo does not.
A Few Interesting Facts: Did you know that ….
- There are a lot of ways that someone who is LGBTQIA+ may identify themselves. There is a great resource from the Human Rights Campaign that can be found here.
- The 1950s was a period of social change - both in the US creating laws to limit rights as well as LGBTQIA+ individuals forming civil rights groups, such as the Daughters of Bilitis and the Mattachine Society, two of the first long standing queer to serve nationally.
- Buffalo's PRIDE celebration is a month-long event. Check out the calendar here.
- Wisconsin was the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 1982.
- The first recorded use of "they" as a singular pronoun in English was in 1375!
- Buffalo has all sorts of resources and community groups for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Here is a list of some of them!
Highlighting a few individuals in history
- Kathy Kozachenko is the first openly gay person to serve in the government. She was elected to Ann Arbor's City Council in 1974.
- Alan L. Hart was a trans doctor in the 1920s. He was a trailblazer for using x-ray technology to diagnose patients with tuberculosis, a method still used today.
- James Baldwin was a poet and essayist during the Civil Rights movement. He wrote about discrimination and oppression that marginalized groups face.
- Pauli Murray was a teacher and minister who was instrumental in the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements. She published States’ Laws on Race and Color which Thurgood Marshall described as "the Bible" for civil rights litigators.
- We’wha was a spiritual leader and craftsperson for the Zuni people in the late 1800s. They met with Grover Cleaveland in Washington and was an ambassador for their tribe who worked with anthropologists.
- Dr. Margaret “Mom” Chung was the first Chinese American woman to become a physician and was a major contributor to the creation of WAVES, the U.S. Naval Women’s Reserve
- Billie Jean King was the first woman in sports to win $100,000 in a single year and beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes." Billie Jean King has also received the Presidential Medal of Honor.
A few resources
Educators Guide: ThinkB4YouSpeak
The resources in this guide are appropriate for use in the classroom, by community and youth organizations, as part of gay-straight alliance (GSA) meetings, in diversity clubs, as part of anti-bullying programs, or in conjunction with other initiatives that promote safety and respect.
https://www.glsen.org/sites/default/files/Guide%20to%20ThinkB4YouSpeak.pdf
Definitions
https://transstudent.org/definitions/
Terms Guide
Language Matters_ LGBTQ+ Term Guide (1) (filesusr.com)
IMPORTANT RESOURCES for both parents & school professionals for Transgender + Gender Non-Conforming youth under 13: GLYS Flyer (glyswny.org)
GLYS info sheet: GLYS WNY, Inc. offers a variety of services, resources and programs to LGBTQ+ youth, ages 5-21, their allies and support systems in all eight counties of Western New York. GLYS Flyer (glyswny.org)
Sources:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqheritage.htm
https://www.scu.edu/media/offices/provost/writing-center/resources/Tips-Singular-Pronoun-They.pdf
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trailblazing-transgender-doctor-saved-countless-lives/
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/introduction-james-baldwin
https://www.nps.gov/people/pauli-murray.htm
https://www.nps.gov/people/dr-margaret-mom-chung.htm
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wewha
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