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Your Guide to Queer Pride

lgbtq+ pride Jun 13, 2022

Happy Pride month! Whether this is your first pride or your bazillionth plus one, we’ve got you covered for all things queer all month long. 

To begin, check out one of Pride and Joy’s Instagram followers, to_all_the_latter_day_gays. They posted daily suggestions for how to celebrate Pride. Although we are nearing the mid of Pride month, you can still join the fun! Click here to see some of their ideas on small things you can do to celebrate all month long.

Another great way to get plugged into your local queer scenes is to find your local gay chamber of commerce. Check out their website, and you can easily search by state and province to find the closest local gay chamber of commerce near you. 

Some of you may live in cities that have Pride parades and festivals in the month of June. Make sure to check your local pride festivities and be sure to stay hydrated in the hot sun of summer! If you are celebrating at a Pride festival this summer, let us know and tag us on your social media so we can help celebrate with you from afar– @PrideJoyFoundation. 

If your local cities don’t have any celebrations this month, and instead have them later into the summer and through the fall, you can still find ways to celebrate. Here are a few suggestions if a Pride festival isn’t happening in your town in June:

  • Host your own pride celebration with family and friends. Find an outdoor setting to practice safe social distancing. 
  • Grab all your queer gear and cover yourself in rainbows and sport your queerest outfits - tag us on social media @pridejoyfoundation and show off your pride all month long.
  • Eventbrite has a list of virtual Pride events in 2022.  

Reach out to your local LGBTQ+ centers, or find the nearest ones to you and see if there are ways you can help support them. These centers are often life-saving spaces and during the COVID pandemic, some have struggled to stay open. If you have the time and/or capacity, consider finding ways to support your closest local LGBTQ+ centers. You can volunteer your time or donate funds. Even subscribing to newsletters can help organizations prove to donors and grant funders how much support they have via subscribers. 

If centers near you do not yet exist, we suggest finding queer community via the magic of the world wide web! Follow folks and organizations on social media and plug yourselves in there. We always have space for you at the Pride and Joy Foundation. 

Remember, before Pride was a party and a parade, it was first a riot at the Stonewall Inn. We wouldn’t have the celebrations we have now without trans women of color like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera leading the way. If you feel called to, it is important to let your local legislators know now more than ever ways in which you support our LGBTQ+ community. Many states are facing legislators taking away gender-affirming care for trans and non-binary folks, or banning conversations in elementary schools that are centered around gender and sexuality. Find out your elected officials here and voice your support for the LGBTQ+ community. We need our voices to be heard. 

As June ticks on and Pride month is being celebrated make sure to at the very least, take a small moment, and celebrate queer joy, whatever that may look like for you: a walk outside, message a queer friend or advocate, color or draw, write a poem, write a story, read a queer book (and make sure to read LGBTQ+ banned books right now including Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer) eat something that brings you joy, watch something queer on your favorite streaming service. 

Don't forget, Pride and Joy Publishing now has pre-sales for our newest book, Color Me Queer: Meditative Coloring Book.  You can order your copy just in time for Pride on our website here or via Amazon. Purchases from Amazon net a $1.50 donation to Pride & Joy Foundation.  Purchasing "Color Me Queer" through our site results in a $6 donation. 

We need more queer joy, we need more love. Reach out to each other, support one another and celebrate yourselves this month. We are here, we are queer, and we aren’t going anywhere. 

 

About the Author:

C. Rizleris (they/them) is a contributing writer for the Pride and Joy Foundation. They also volunteer with LGBTQ+ youth at the Guilford Green Foundation and serve on the Transgender Task Force Committee for the city of Greensboro, NC. Currently, they are working on a hybrid essay collection centered around gender and sexuality as a candidate for an MFA in Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts.

You can find C. on Twitter @rizwrites. 



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