June Joys: 10 Ways to Celebrate This Pride Month
By Leila Metres
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June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and with it comes the opportunity to celebrate LGBTQ+ people, history, and culture in a more intentional way. For me, Pride Month represents an outpouring of all kinds of love—self-love, romantic love, platonic love, love for our ancestors, love for our community, and love for future generations. It’s important to support and uplift LGBTQ+ people year- round, but if you’re looking for specific ways to celebrate Pride Month this year, look no further!
1. Read a book with LGBTQ+ characters
In my opinion, reading is one of the best ways to connect with LGBTQ+ perspectives. There are so many LGBTQ+ books that I love, I can’t pick just a few to recommend. I think everyone should read Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon, a short but impactful book about deconstructing gender norms and definitions. For primers on LGBTQ+ history, I’d recommend Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager and A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr. My nonfiction favorites include Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen and Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line by Elizabeth Lovatt.
Some great memoirs are All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. I could give you a whole roster of romance novels, but The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, Out of the Blue by Jason June, and Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston stand out. And the list goes on! The book that changed my life and made me passionate about seeing LGBTQ+ characters in books was Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. I read this book when I was 11, and it not only showed me that queer people can have happy endings but also helped me find the courage to come out.
Representation matters!
2. Watch a movie or show with LGBTQ+ characters
If you’re not into reading, watching a movie or a show is another great way to engage in LGBTQ+ media! Rotten Tomatoes has a list of the most highly-rated LGBTQ+ movies that I would encourage you to check out. Some of my personal favorites from this list include Bottoms, Moonlight, and A Secret Love. Or you can get into TV shows! Some of my favorite shows include First Kill, Dickinson, Love, Victor, and Heated Rivalry. However, just because there is queer representation in film, that doesn’t mean that it’s positive. One of the most harmful tropes in LGBTQ+ TV is the “Bury Your Gays” trope that shows a lot of token queer characters, especially women, being killed off. And recently, we have seen a rise in the “Cancel Your Gays” phenomen, where LGBTQ+ TV shows are canceled even with high ratings from viewers. So not only will watching LGBTQ+ TV shows and movies help you learn about queer communities, it also has the potential to create positive change for the future of LGBTQ+ representation in media.
3. Listen to LGBTQ+ musical artists
Okay, so you’re somehow not into reading books or watching TV, or you just need a break from all the other queer media you’ve been consuming. Next, listen to some music from LGBTQ+ artists that you know and love, from old greats that you didn’t know were queer, or from your new favorite artists on the come-up. LGBTQ+ people have been making a splash in music since, well, forever. This article is a good place to start looking for the most influential LGBTQ+ musical artists, but I bet you’d be surprised just how many artists are queer. Some of my favorite LGBTQ+ musical artists include girl in red, Hayley Kiyoko, Chelsea Cutler (who I just learned is an Amherst College grad), Frank Ocean, and Troye Sivan. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the impact the question “do you listen to girl in red?” has had on the queer community. In 2020, it was popularized through TikTok as a way for queer women to ask other women if they were also queer.
But even if you don’t listen to girl in red, you can still listen to girl in red, if you catch my drift.
4. Visit an LGBTQ+ owned business
Visiting an LGBTQ+-owned business is one easy way to incorporate supporting LGBTQ+ people into your Pride month (and year round!). It could be a bar, restaurant, bookstore, retail store, or any other number of businesses. Supporting LGBTQ+-owned businesses is important not only for the financial aspect of support but also for becoming connected with potentially lesser known community spaces in your area. Boston Queers is a super comprehensive directory for local queer-owned and inclusive businesses in New England. If you are outside of New England, a Google search can let you know what LGBTQ+-owned businesses exist in your area. Some places I have on my list to visit soon include Bookends in Florence (Florence, MA), Cathedral Station (Boston, MA), Brewella’s (Cleveland, OH) and Slammers (Columbus, OH).
5. Learn about LGBTQ+ history in your city
LGBTQ+ history is one of many histories that often gets left out from what is taught in schools or widely publicized. Researching more about LGBTQ+ history wherever you come from is a great way to celebrate Pride month.
Here’s an article to get you started about lesbian history in the Pioneer Valley, and another one about LGBTQ+ history specifically at UMass. Some pieces of history that readers should definitely know is that Massachusetts was the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, and UMass Amherst was the third college campus to establish an LGBTQ+ center for students. In 1970, the UMass Student Homophile League was established as the first LGBTQ+ group at UMass, and one of the first in Western Massachusetts as a whole.
How cool to know what an impact UMass has had on the local queer community!
6. Follow an LGBTQ+ news outlet
Following an LGBTQ+ news outlet is the best way to stay updated on LGBTQ+ news, whether local or international, cultural or political. Where I’m from, we have one LGBTQ+ newsroom for the whole state of Ohio (The Buckeye Flame). But as I was doing research for this article, I found out that there are many LGBTQ+ newsrooms in Massachusetts, including Boston Spirit (Boston area), and Bay Windows and The Rainbow Times (New England). However, none of these publications are extremely active on Instagram. The Washington Blade, Edge Media Network, and The Advocate are also good options for national and international news. On Instagram, I follow two England-based news outlets (Gay Times and Pink News) and a New York-based outlet (Them) for international news.
7. Contact your legislators/sign petitions against anti-LGBTQ+ bills
There is a misconception that LGBTQ+ people have achieved full freedoms in the US, but there is still a lot of work to be done (and work being done to reverse the freedoms we do have!). For example, in Massachusetts, H551 is a bill that would force school employees to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents. At the time of writing this article, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is tracking 530 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the US, five of which are in Massachusetts. (The Trans Legislation Tracker estimates this number to be even higher at 666 active bills and six in Massachusetts.) Take a few minutes to poke through these websites to learn more about what bills are affecting your state. Then, find your lawmakers on the US Congress website and contact them to let them know how you feel about these bills. For Massachusetts residents, you can also use the MA legislature website to find your state legislators. Sometimes, there are specific petitions against anti-LGBTQ+ bills that you can sign onto, but you can never go wrong by contacting your legislators directly. Celebrating Pride can also mean tangible political action!
8. Donate to LGBTQ+ causes
Donating to an LGBTQ+ cause could take many forms. It could be contributing to a mutual aid fund for an LGBTQ+ person who is in need. It could be donating to a local LGBTQ+ center like the Stonewall Center at UMass or BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (to find an AGLY near you in Massachusetts, search your location online). It could also be contributing to a national organization like the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign or Glisten (formerly GLSEN). Donating money to whatever person or organization calls to you most is a really impactful way to physically show your support during Pride month.
9. Go to a Pride parade
Pride parades are a spectacular opportunity to see the diversity, strength, and joy of the LGBTQ+ community wherever you are. I’ve attended Pride in both Cleveland and Columbus, and it’s always a lot of fun. Usually Pride events include a parade which you can walk in or observe, and then a resource fair for local LGBTQ+ organizations to share information and give out lots of free rainbow merch. There are also often performances, music, food trucks, and pride merch for sale. All are welcome at Pride parades, so show up in rainbows and enjoy! If you’re still in the UMass area, Amherst Pride takes place on June 28 from 12-3 p.m.
10. Lean into and learn from the LGBTQ+ community
If you are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Pride Month is a wonderful opportunity to get connected to other queer people. If you don’t have many other LGBTQ+ people in your life, use this as a chance to go to queer events, reach out and make queer friends, and take note of the support that is highlighted during June. Find out what resources are available to you and how you can participate in your community. We are always stronger together!
If you are an ally, there are still many ways that you can engage. If you have burning questions that may be invasive or inappropriate, head to Google or read a book. But talking with real people is one of the simplest ways to get educated on LGBTQ+ issues, not by interrogating someone about their identity, but simply by showing up to support them, using the correct name and pronouns, inviting their same-sex partner in, and being respectful and curious about their experiences.
When you show that you support them, you will inevitably learn more about their identity, their struggles, and their joys, and that is the greatest gift.
How are you choosing to celebrate Pride Month? Personally, I’ve mostly been reading up on history, staying updated on news through LGBTQ+ media outlets, reading LGBTQ+ books, and leaning into my community.
Happy Pride!
Featuring
Leila Metres
