On 1 June 2021, President Joe Biden declared June LGBTQ Pride Month. The federal government first recognized the month in 1999 when President Bill Clinton declared June “Gay & Lesbian Pride Month.” In 2009, President Barack Obama declared June LGBT Pride Month. Pride Month was first recognized in 1994 when a coalition of education-based organizations in the United States designated October as LGBT History Month. America’s first gay pride parade was held on the one-year anniversary of the riots. Angered by police harassment and social discrimination, the events of June 28th sparked six days of protests and galvanized the gay rights movement. The Stonewall Riots occurred due to a raid by New York City police on the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village on June 28th, 1969.

The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally. In June, we celebrate and recognize Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising.