Pride Month

Join Us to Celebrate LGBTQ+ Creators and Pride Month

As everyone knows, the arts offer creators a voice to express their unique experiences through their works, while also enabling them to navigate the world in which they live. For members of the LGBTQ+ community, the arts have always played a particularly important role as they have enabled creators to express their gender and sexual identity—something that was tremendously important before social acceptance of the queer community became much more universal. Today, LGBTQ+ creators continue to use their works for personal expression, to explore and reflect on their life experiences, and to provide the world with an abundance of joy and inspiration.

Whether it is through songs, photographs, visual arts, acting, writing and so many other types of creative endeavors, the LGBTQ+ community’s immense contributions to the creative ecosystem are immeasurable. So, in celebration of Pride Month 2023—the theme of which is Rage & Resilience—we are excited to highlight its history and origin, dive into important celebrations (past and present), and highlight numerous LGBTQ+ creators who have—and who are currently—helping to shape the world we live in through their incredible creative contributions.

History of Pride Month

Pride Month is an annual celebration that’s typically held in the U.S. during the month of June in recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) identity. Gay Pride also commemorates the Stonewall riots, which were “a series of violent confrontations between police and Gay rights supporters during the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood.” As uprisings between Gay rights supporters and police continued, they galvanized members of the Gay community and helped perpetuate the Gay Rights Movement. During 1970, on the first anniversary of the riots, hundreds of demonstrators marched through Greenwich Village in New York City, passing by the Stonewall Inn to protest the previous year’s happenings and to celebrate moving forward.

“The original Gay-Pride flag was hand-dyed by Gilbert Baker. It flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. The flag consisted of eight stripes; Baker assigned specific meaning to each of the colors: hot pink: sexuality; red: life; orange: healing; yellow: sunlight green: nature; turquoise: magic/art; indigo/blue: serenity/harmony; violet: spirit.”

Today, Gay Pride celebrations include a variety of celebratory events and parades, which sometimes feature colorful costumes and floats. From concerts to workshops to exhibits and parades, and so much more, Pride enables members of the LGBTQ+ community, along with their allies and supporters, to celebrate while also advocating for further change. And speaking of change, today, a wealth of organizations—from GLAAD to the Human Rights Campaign to the Global Equality Fund–and many, many more, are dedicated to gaining equal rights, treatment, legislation, and broader acceptance for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Ways That the Creator Community Supports Pride Month

Countless organizations across the creator community, including numerous Copyright Alliance organization members, support Pride Month. Below are a few instances of how they show their support, both past and present.

MPA and The Credits: Get to Know GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. “When entertainment journalist and critic John Griffiths founded the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association in 2009, the group, now known as GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, had 20 members. Today, it has a membership of nearly 200 writers, including myself, who cover film and television for print, online and broadcast outlets and honor the best in entertainment every year through the Dorian Awards.”

RIAA: A Pride Month Conversation – An inspiring conversation with Tom Clees of RIAA, Representative Sharice Davids (D-KS), and singer/actor Tituss Burgess, who speak about the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus, breaking barriers, and much more.

Library of Congress: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month. “June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. This month-long celebration demonstrates how LGBTQ Americans have strengthened our country, by using their talent and creativity to help create awareness and goodwill. The first Pride March in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising.”

Ceros, Getty Images and GLAAD: Partnership Promotes LGBTQ+ Representation in Visual Content. “Together, the organizations created a unique interactive experience to promote increased diversity and representation of the LGBTQ+ community in Getty Images’ creative image and video offerings.”

Pride Month Blogs, Articles, Resources

We’ve compiled a wealth of blogs, articles, and other resources in celebration of Pride Month, its history, and the amazing LGBTQ+ creators whose works inspire us all year long.

Celebrating LGBTQ Creators

It would not be possible to celebrate Pride Month without highlighting some of the many incredible and talented creators whose works provide enjoyment and inspiration to so many of us, every single day, including those listed below.

Learn About Other Heritage Months

February is Black History Month!
May is AAPI Month!
Hispanic Heritage Month
Sept 15 – Oct 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month!
March is Women’s History Month!
May is Jewish American Heritage Month!
November is Native American Heritage Month!
April is Arab American Heritage Month!
June is Pride Month!