Happy Pride Month 2026!

June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer/Questioning) Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969 (look for my annual blog posting about this important date on the 28th).

Why Pride?

Despite the fact that Pete Buttigieg, an out and proud and well adjusted and brilliantly smart gay man ran a highly successful campaign for President of the United States (remember how everyone said that we no longer have any racism in the United States because a black man was President?), we still have a tremendous problem with homophobia here (especially with the new administration of darkness attacking LGBTQ rights) and around the world. Pride Month is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces here in the United States. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes, while political attacks against the LGBTQ community have increased with destructive, radical conservatives insisting that anyone who stands for LGBTQ rights is somehow "grooming children" for sexual exploitation. Yet that pales in comparison to some other unfortunately backward places around the world where gay men and women are routinely tortured and slaughtered--sometimes by government-sanctioned assassins, governments who insist that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that such ideas are evil imports from the Western world (Ghana imposes actual JAIL SENTENCES for anyone just identifying as LGBTQ).

The LGBTQ Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, tortured, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

The rainbow flag is a universal symbol of hope for LGBTQ people around the world. It first flew in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza for Gay Pride Day, on June 25, 1978. It originally had eight colors--two more than today's version--and was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist who sewed the whopping 30' x 60' flag by hand. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003.
(Credit Fredrik Persson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Baker died in 2017, aged 65. In a 2015 interview with CNN, here, he revealed the rationale behind the design of the flag. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," he said. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful."

https://gilbertbaker.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

Harvey Milk Day 2026

Today is Harvey Milk Day, an international day of remembrance and celebration of the life of political pioneer and gay rights activist Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), organized by The Harvey Milk Foundation.

Harvey Milk, who was known informally as "The Mayor of Castro Street," was the first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. His presence, life, and tragic assassination at the hands of a homophobic murderer (an event that triggered the White Night Riots) changed the texture, pulse, and meaning of life for gay men and women everywhere. Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk's and intern for Milk at the time of his assassination, put it succinctly: "His murder and the response to it made permanent and unquestionable the full participation of gay and lesbian people in the political process." The progress we have made and the continued success of gay rights was certainly helped by Milk and his courage. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us."

http://www.harveymilkday.co/
http://milkfoundation.org/

Happy Record Store Day 2026!

Happy Record Store Day, readers! This day of celebration is something near and dear to my heart: I worked in record stores for nearly a decade, first at a chain called Record Factory here in Northern California, and then at Tower Records. I met incredible people, had incredible times, and even though it might have been frustrating at times for the regular ol' reasons of daily work in a retail environment (it can wear ya down), I look back on my time in record stores with great fondness.

Here is a bit of history about Record Store Day:

Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. Today, Record Store Day is celebrated at independently-owned brick-and-mortar record stores around the world.

This is a day for the people who make up the world of the record store—the staff, the customers, and the artists—to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role they play in their communities. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, DJs spinning records, and on and on. In 2008 a small list of titles was released on Record Store Day and that list has grown to include artists and labels both large and small, in every genre and price point. For several years, 60% or more of the Record Store Day Official Release List came from independent labels and distributors. The list continues to include a wide range of artists, covering the diverse taste of record stores and their customers.

On the first Record Store Day, Metallica spent hours at Rasputin Music in San Francisco meeting their fans and now each year hundreds of artists—both internationally famous and from the block--flock to record stores around the world for performances, signings, meet and greets and to fill their own shopping bags with music. In 2009, Jesse "Boots Electric" Hughes (Eagles of Death Metal) declared himself the "Record Store Day Ambassador" as a way of shouting out how important the stores were to artists and since then Joshua Homme (Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures, Queens of the Stone Age), Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, Jack White, Chuck D, Dave Grohl, Metallica, St. Vincent, Run The Jewels, Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile, Fred Armisen and Taylor Swift have worn the annual ceremonial sash.

Throughout its 15 years, cities across the United States, including New York City, Los Angeles, Boise, Charleston, Raleigh and Las Vegas have declared Record Store Day an official holiday. In 2013, Co-Founder Michael Kurtz was made a Chevalier of the Ordre Des Arts et Des Letters in France, honoring Record Store Day's contribution to the cultural and artistic life of the French people. That same year, the organizers of Record Store Day accepted the Independent Spirit Award from NARM (now the Music Biz Association). In 2015, Record Store Day was named the Marketplace Ally of the Year by A2IM, an organization of independent music labels.

So visit the Record Store Day site linked below to see a list of what artists are releasing tracks especially for the day. And visit your nearest actual, real record store!

https://recordstoreday.com/Home

MLK 2026

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.”

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

--Martin Luthr King Jr.

Happy Hogmanay 2025 - 2026!

Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's celebration that takes place over the course of several days. While the festival and its customs date back to pagan celebrations of winter solstice, the word Hogmanay itself is harder to trace. Scholars have guessed that the word possibly comes from the French, Norse, or Goidelic languages.

The largest Hogmanay event, held in Edinburgh, kicks off with a torchlight procession tonight, December 29th, 2024. An enormous crowd of celebrants can enjoy a carnival atmosphere overflowing with Street Theatre, Fire Performers and Drummers, before the Massed Pipes & Drums and Vikings from Shetland’s South Mainland Up Helly Aa’ Jarl Squad (SMUHA) lead the procession in a river of light through the capital’s historic Old Town.

Events continue through the 30th. This year, the Night Afore Concert at Ross Band Stand, Princes Street Gardens features Stornoway's folk-rock stars Peat & Diesel. And on the 31st, you can attend the Silent Adventures Mega Silent Disco, or enjoy Edinburgh's Street Party featuring live music, DJ’s, giant screens, International Street Theatre, Pipers, drummers, funfair attractions, and delicious street food & drink. Then Wet Leg are set to headline Concert in the Gardens this Hogmanay, ringing in the New Year beneath the spectacular backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Joining them are Scottish favourites Hamish Hawk and Lucia & The Best Boys for a night of anthems, energy and of course an overwhelming firework display at the stroke of midnight created by pyrotechnic wizards Titanium

Photo: Keith Valentine

There are many charming New Year's customs in Scotland. "First footing" is the idea that the first person to cross the threshold of your home is a harbinger of good luck. Starting immediately after midnight, people call on friends, going from house to house for much of the night and even into the morning and next day, with over half the population of Scotland observing the practice of "first-footing." It is good luck for the "first-footer" to be a tall, dark male. Traditionally, this male would bring gifts of a coin (symbolizing prosperity), bread/ black bun fruitcake (symbolizing food), salt (flavor), coal (warmth), or a drink (good cheer). These days, a "first-footer" usually just brings the whiskey!

January 1st is Ne'erday, a contraction of New Year's Day. The celebrating and "first-footing" continue, and many Scots still observe the day with a special dinner of steak pie. And for a real pick-me-up hangover cure, you can try the annual Loony Dook costumed cold plunge which takes place in the Firth of Forth at South Queensferry. Show up in costume--over your wet suit of course, it's freezing! 

Haud Hogmanay, everyone!

https://edwinterfest.com/hogmanay

Happy International LGBT History Month 2025!

October is International LGBT History Month!

LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions to the world of the LGBTQ+ community. You'd think we would be in a better place for LGBT rights by 2025 (as well as rights for women and POC, etc. etc....), but here we are with physical attacks on the community increasing at alarming rates, thanks to the current administration of darkness. Between 67 and 70 anti-LGBTQ bills have been enacted and passed into law in the United States in 2025 alone — surpassing last year's total of 46 according to the Human Rights Campaign Fund. And unfortunately, we still have another 3 months to go to see how much more damage can be done.

The Human Rights Campaign says, "These laws are fueled by an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican establishment — and coordinated, well-funded extremist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, Heritage Foundation and the Family Policy Alliance — insistent on trying to control our families and lives." For this reason, it is of grave importance to promote visibility, which engenders understanding and empathy. When people know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far more likely to support equality under the law. But beyond that, our stories can be powerful and empowering to each other, inspiring change.

How It Works
LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources. Visit the link at the bottom of this post. There are some wonderful, legendary artists and figures on this year's list, and some new inspiring voices like Sarah McBride, the first trans Congressperson.

Background
In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session and existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11), occur that month.

Gay and Lesbian History Month was endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Education Association and other national organizations. In 2006 Equality Forum assumed responsibility for providing content, promotion and resources for LGBT History Month.

Celebrate Our Heritage
The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international contributions.

https://www.lgbthistorymonth.com/

Happy Pride Month 2025!

June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer/Questioning) Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969 (look for my annual blog posting about this important date on the 28th).

Why Pride?

Despite the fact that Pete Buttigieg, an out and proud and well adjusted and brilliantly smart gay man ran a highly successful campaign for President of the United States (remember how everyone said that we no longer have any racism in the United States because a black man was President?), we still have a tremendous problem with homophobia here (especially with the new administration of darkness attacking LGBTQ rights) and around the world. Pride Month is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces here in the United States. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes, while political attacks against the LGBTQ community have increased with destructive, radical conservatives insisting that anyone who stands for LGBTQ rights is somehow "grooming children" for sexual exploitation. In fact there were over 800 anti-LBGTQ bills introduced last year alone. Yet that pales in comparison to some other unfortunately backward places around the world where gay men and women are routinely tortured and slaughtered--sometimes by government-sanctioned assassins, governments who insist that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that such ideas are evil imports from the Western world (Ghana imposes actual JAIL SENTENCES for anyone just identifying as LGBTQ).

The LGBTQ Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, tortured, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

The rainbow flag is a universal symbol of hope for LGBTQ people around the world. It first flew in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza for Gay Pride Day, on June 25, 1978. It originally had eight colors--two more than today's version--and was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist who sewed the whopping 30' x 60' flag by hand. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003.
(Credit Fredrik Persson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Baker died in 2017, aged 65. In a 2015 interview with CNN, here, he revealed the rationale behind the design of the flag. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," he said. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful."

https://gilbertbaker.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

Harvey Milk Day 2025

Today is Harvey Milk Day, an international day of remembrance and celebration of the life of political pioneer and gay rights activist Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), organized by The Harvey Milk Foundation.

Harvey Milk, who was known informally as "The Mayor of Castro Street," was the first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. His presence, life, and tragic assassination at the hands of a homophobic murderer (an event that triggered the White Night Riots) changed the texture, pulse, and meaning of life for gay men and women everywhere. Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk's and intern for Milk at the time of his assassination, put it succinctly: "His murder and the response to it made permanent and unquestionable the full participation of gay and lesbian people in the political process." The progress we have made and the continued success of gay rights was certainly helped by Milk and his courage. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us."

http://www.harveymilkday.co/
http://milkfoundation.org/

MLK 2025

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.”

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

--Martin Luthr King Jr.

Happy Hogmanay 2024 - 2025!

Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year's celebration that takes place over the course of several days. While the festival and its customs date back to pagan celebrations of winter solstice, the word Hogmanay itself is harder to trace. Scholars have guessed that the word possibly comes from the French, Norse, or Goidelic languages.

The largest Hogmanay event, held in Edinburgh, kicks off with a torchlight procession tonight, December 29th, 2024. An enormous crowd of celebrants accompanied by pipers and drummers, fire, and fanfare in a river of light wind through the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town.

Events continue through the 30th. This year, the Night Afore Disco Party at West Princes Street Gardens and set against the backdrop of the iconic Edinburgh Castle features Hot Dub Time Machine with The Cuban Brothers and High Fade. Then December 31st is Auld Year's Eve. The Concert In The Gardens will be headlined by Scottish band Texas and guest Callum Beattie. And of course the world-famous "Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party" will culminate, as usual, in an overwhelming firework display at the stroke of midnight.

There are many charming New Year's customs in Scotland. "First footing" is the idea that the first person to cross the threshold of your home is a harbinger of good luck. Starting immediately after midnight, people call on friends, going from house to house for much of the night and even into the morning and next day, with over half the population of Scotland observing the practice of "first-footing." It is good luck for the "first-footer" to be a tall, dark male. Traditionally, this male would bring gifts of a coin (symbolizing prosperity), bread/ black bun fruitcake (symbolizing food), salt (flavor), coal (warmth), or a drink (good cheer). These days, a "first-footer" usually just brings the whiskey!

January 1st is Ne'erday, a contraction of New Year's Day. The celebrating and "first-footing" continue, and many Scots still observe the day with a special dinner of steak pie. However, the annual Loony Dook which takes place in the Firth of Forth (a wacky costumed cold plunge for charity), is not part of the official 2024-2025 Edinburgh Hogmanay events and after being cancelled  in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, it is unclear if it is going to happen on January 1, 2025.

Haud Hogmanay, everyone!

https://www.edinburghshogmanay.com/
http://www.visitscotland.com/

Happy International LGBT History Month 2024!

October is International LGBT History Month!

LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions to the world of the LGBTQ+ community. You'd think we would be in a better place for LGBT rights by 2024 (as well as rights for women and POC, etc. etc....), but here we are with physical attacks on the community increasing at alarming rates. According to the ACLU, more than 30 anti-LGBTQ bills have been enacted and passed into law in the United States in 2024 alone — fewer than the 84 bills enacted and passed into law in 2023 (out of the 525 bills introduced!), but still far too many.

The Human Rights Campaign says, "These laws are fueled by an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican establishment — and coordinated, well-funded extremist groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom, Heritage Foundation and the Family Policy Alliance — insistent on trying to control our families and lives." For this reason, it is of grave importance to promote visibility, which engenders understanding and empathy. When people know someone who is LGBTQ, they are far more likely to support equality under the law. But beyond that, our stories can be powerful and empowering to each other, inspiring change.

How It Works
LGBT History Month celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Icons. Each day in October, a new LGBT Icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images and other resources. Visit the link at the bottom of this post.

Background
In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session and existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11), occur that month.

Gay and Lesbian History Month was endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Education Association and other national organizations. In 2006 Equality Forum assumed responsibility for providing content, promotion and resources for LGBT History Month.

Celebrate Our Heritage
The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international contributions.

https://www.lgbthistorymonth.com/

Happy Independence Day 2024: A Celebration of True Democracy

For those readers with me in the United States, Happy 4th of July. Although things are better than they were  from 2017 to 2021, Democracy itself and our country are still under attack from the inside by hostile forces from the right, with their unrelenting, baffling desire to destroy the principles of Humanism. Our upcoming Presidential election is a tremendous source of anxiety for those of us who want the principles of Democracy to prevail. It is our wish and hope that someone from the Democratic party wins the election. If not, I truly fear for our future and our literal physical safety.

So it is at this time in particular that we need to celebrate our Independence Day, our country, and the concept of Democracy. When nearly two and a half centuries ago, a band of patriots gathered in Philadelphia to declare that "all men are created equal," they intended for this country to be different form the others, to be better, to be always striving toward a more perfect union. It is why they made the Constitution a living document, able to be revised, changed, improved upon, thus improving the lives of everyone living in these United States. It is our true purpose, our original ideal to continually improve the quality of life for Americans--all Americans--no matter their race, sex, age, physical ability, religion, and sexual or gender identity. And July 4th is a celebration of that, a Celebration of Possibility, a celebration of the idea that we can continually improve upon our morals, our laws, our procedures, our attitudes. We continually strive toward those possibilities which include instead of exclude, which right what has been wrong, which bring more people into our national fabric, elevating and enriching life in this country. That is why it is particularly distressing and brings a very specific anguish to see these ideals, this leap toward possibilities of greatness that is part of our Constitution and of Democracy itself eroded, attacked, and mocked by conservatives and the right wing and more shockingly, by a large section of our own fellow citizens who support the viciousness and hatred, demonstrating that only cruelty and not the health and future of the United States is their point.

But today, let's choose to celebrate the possibilities of change, of improvement, of an ever-strengthening yearning toward a more perfect union. Please vote to honor these ideals in the next Presidential election--we must have a President and not a King or despot--and to ensure that we live up to the promise of making life for all citizens--ALL CITIZENS--better. We haven't yet and we need to, finally, fulfill that promise.

Here is the sonnet "The New Colossus" by poet Emma Lazarus which serves as the inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France, our valuable ally. The inscription affirms the ideal of inclusiveness and the United States as a beacon of hope, comfort, and stability for anyone who seeks it.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Happy Pride Month 2024!

June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer/Questioning) Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which occurred at the end of June 1969 (look for my annual blog posting about this important date on the 28th).

Why Pride?

Despite the fact that Pete Buttigieg, an out and proud and well adjusted and brilliantly smart gay man ran a highly successful campaign for President of the United States (remember how everyone said that we no longer have any racism in the United States because a black man was President?), we still have a tremendous problem with homophobia here and around the world. Pride Month is a positive stance against the daily shame, social stigma, discrimination, and violence that the LGBT community still faces here in the United States. In fact, a recent report from the policy research Williams Institute at UCLA showed that LGBT+ people in the United States are NINE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN NON-LGBT+ PEOPLE TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT HATE CRIMES. Gay children are routinely kicked out of their homes and disowned by their families, gay kids and teens and young adults are routinely bullied or attacked or beaten and many end up committing suicide because they are told they are sick or going to hell, and many gay men and women are attacked and beaten and murdered--sometimes in their own homes, while political attacks against the LGBTQ community have increased with destructive, radical conservatives insisting that anyone who stands for LGBTQ rights is somehow "grooming children" for sexual exploitation. In fact there were over 800 anti-LBGTQ bills introduced last year alone. Yet that pales in comparison to some other unfortunately backward places around the world where gay men and women are routinely tortured and slaughtered--sometimes by government-sanctioned assassins, governments who insist that there is no such thing as homosexuality and that such ideas are evil imports from the Western world (Ghana's Parliament just passed an anti-LGBTQ law that imposes actual JAIL SENTENCES for anyone just identifying as LGBTQ).

The LGBTQ Pride celebration is about the right of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals to exist without being prosecuted, persecuted, tortured, or murdered, not about "not being straight."

The rainbow flag is a universal symbol of hope for LGBTQ people around the world. It first flew in San Francisco's United Nations Plaza for Gay Pride Day, on June 25, 1978. It originally had eight colors--two more than today's version--and was designed by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist who sewed the whopping 30' x 60' flag by hand. He had been commissioned to design a symbol for the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Gilbert Baker, heading the Stockholm Pride Parade in 2003.
(Credit Fredrik Persson/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images)

Baker died in 2017, aged 65. In a 2015 interview with CNN, here, he revealed the rationale behind the design of the flag. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," he said. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful."

https://gilbertbaker.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag_(LGBT)

Harvey Milk Day 2024

Today is Harvey Milk Day, an international day of remembrance and celebration of the life of political pioneer and gay rights activist Harvey Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978), organized by The Harvey Milk Foundation.

Harvey Milk, who was known informally as "The Mayor of Castro Street," was the first openly gay candidate elected to political office in California, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the United States, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. His presence, life, and tragic assassination at the hands of a homophobic murderer (an event that triggered the White Night Riots) changed the texture, pulse, and meaning of life for gay men and women everywhere. Cleve Jones, a friend of Milk's and intern for Milk at the time of his assassination, put it succinctly: "His murder and the response to it made permanent and unquestionable the full participation of gay and lesbian people in the political process." The progress we have made and the continued success of gay rights was certainly helped by Milk and his courage. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, wrote of him: "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us."

http://www.harveymilkday.co/
http://milkfoundation.org/