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Time of India
16 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
Pride Month: Why is it celebrated in June?
As June commences, the sixth month of the year comes in with a splash of colours, with the rainbow flag waving high and wide! It's Pride Month! Celebrated worldwide in June, Pride month is a time for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies to celebrate diversity, identity, and achievements, while also recognizing historical struggles and advocating for equality. The month includes various events, such as parades, festivals, workshops, and memorials. Whether you identify as a non-binary individual, or are still figuring out where you stand in the gender spectrum – the month of June indeed is special for the members of the LGBTQ+ community. And it's not just non-binary folks, for whom June holds a special place – as allies, it is equally important for cisgender and heterosexual peers, as they strive to coexist harmoniously and make this world a better and safer place. But why June? Why is June celebrated as Pride Month? This annual observance traces its roots to a pivotal event in 1969—the Stonewall Riots in New York City—which ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Here's a trip to the lanes of history of Pride. The Stonewall Riots of 1969: In the early hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, was raided by police—a common occurrence at the time. However, this particular raid sparked an unprecedented uprising. Patrons of the bar, along with local residents, fought back against the police, leading to a series of protests and clashes that lasted for several days. These riots are widely considered the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Birth of Pride Parades : To commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the first Gay Pride marches were held on June 28, 1970, in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. These marches, known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day parades, marked the beginning of what would become an annual tradition of LGBTQ+ pride events. The choice of June for these events was symbolic, aligning with the month of the Stonewall Riots. Official recognition and expansion: The significance of June as Pride Month was officially recognized by the U.S. government in 1999 when President Bill Clinton declared June Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. In 2009, President Barack Obama expanded this recognition to include bisexual and transgender individuals, declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month. Over time, Pride celebrations have grown beyond the United States, with cities around the world hosting their own events in June to honor the LGBTQ+ community. These celebrations include parades, festivals, workshops, and memorials, fostering a sense of unity and visibility for LGBTQ+ individuals globally. The ongoing struggles and significance: While Pride Month serves as a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and achievements, it also serves as a reminder of the ongoing struggles for equality and acceptance. Issues such as discrimination, lack of legal protections, and violence against LGBTQ+ individuals persist, underscoring the importance of continued advocacy and activism. Pride Month provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress made and the work still needed to ensure equality for all members of the LGBTQ+ community. More than a 'celebration': Pride Month in June is more than just a series of events; it is a powerful reminder of the resilience, courage, and determination of the LGBTQ+ community. Rooted in the history of the Stonewall Riots, it continues to be a vital time for reflection, celebration, and advocacy, ensuring that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights remains visible and ongoing. TN: Transgender community celebrates 'Pride Month' in Chennai
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Hate crime probe launched after pride decorations removed in Scots town
Cops are urging anyone with information to get in touch COPS have launched a hate crime probe after yobs ripped down Gay Pride decorations. Officers were made aware that overnight rainbow coloured LGBT flags had been removed on the Isle of Arran. Advertisement 1 Isle of Arran cops are hunting down yobs who 'commited a hate crime' Credit: Alamy One furious local said: "It's an absolute disgrace and so disrespectful, I hope they catch the people who are responsible." Police are urging anyone with information to get in touch. Sergeant Clare Neilson, Arran Police Office, said: "We are taking this very seriously and are following positive lines of enquiry. "If anyone has any information or saw people acting suspiciously, get in touch. Advertisement "Anyone with private CCTV or dash-cam footage should check to see if they captured anything." The Pride march kicks off from the Brodick Port Carpark and boasts a string of activities. Revellers can enjoy food, drink and live music, plus a ceilidh and other local activities. Michael Gettins, Chair of Arran Pride, said : "[Last year] was so fantastic that the Committee decided to do it all again. Advertisement "This year we will have even more noise, even more colour and much, much more fun. "We look forward to welcoming family, friends and our allies to celebrate again with us." Elsewhere cops have launched a mystery death probe after human remains were discovered. Officers were summoned this morning to Motherwell, Lanarkshire following reports of a human corpse. Advertisement Cops are urging members of the public to avoid the scene as they comb the area for clues. The town's Calder Road area has been locked down and a police presence will be visible. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "The death is being treated as unexplained and extensive enquiries are ongoing."
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Nuclear power on the rise except in UN watchdog's home Austria
From Belgium to Denmark, Bangladesh to Egypt - nuclear power is making a political and policy come-back and drew advocates from across the globe to the International Atomic Energy Agency's Vienna headquarters this week, though it remains less loved in the Austrian home of the UN agency. With big tech looking at nuclear energy to power future AI operations and policymakers increasingly mulling the potential of small modular reactors – mini nuclear plants that could be factory built and power a small town, the International Atomic Energy Agency has noticed more and more countries interested in its expertise. That is why the Vienna based nuclear watchdog invited representatives from across the globe to its headquarters this week for a convention to deep dive into the good, bad and ugly of what advocates call a very carbon friendly fuel. "At the IAEA, we're seeing a number of member states that have expressed interest in nuclear power for several reasons related to growing energy demands, climate change and other national considerations," Matthew van Sickle, a senior nuclear power engineer told Euronews. The IAEA offers expertise to member states on all the main challenges from financing to human resources to communication strategies to garner public support. But in Austria, where the IAEA has been based since it came about it in 1957, a referendum in the 1970's resulted in the Austrian National Assembly passing a law prohibiting the use of nuclear energy in Austria. The outcome was an outstanding win for participatory democracy, but a major loss for the Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant that cost €1 billion to build and was ready to operate. Situated in Lower Austria alongside the river Danube, today the plant has become a quirky Homer Simpson inspired tourist attraction and the biggest nuclear training centre in the whole of Europe. Peter Schinnerf, who works at the plant as a guide and a trainer, told Euronews the plant today has more emotional than financial worth. Since 2017, the plant has also been hosting the annual Shut Down festival - a massive techno festival attracting revellers from all across Austria and beyond. EU Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resilience, Jessika Roswall, says "anyone who wants to join in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Hungary should do so." She was responding to the Hungarian government's decision to ban Gay Pride parades, a decision that has been heavily condemned by a majority of EU member states including France, Germany and Spain. "The European Union is built on values, which, of course, we all stand behind, and this is the pressure we are in this union of – one of the key things is built of this precious value of people's freedom and loving whoever they want to, or rule of law and all these things," Roswall told Euronews. "So I stand, of course, behind that and I myself have been to many prides, only in Stockholm though," she added. Meanwhile, a European Commission source told Euronews that it's unlikely EU Commissioners will stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community as it could be seen to "provoke" Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and open the door to him accusing the EU of interfering in Hungarian affairs. "I think it would play into Orbán's hands were senior people from Brussels to turn up," the source said. However, law experts and some member states argue the European Commission is obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of EU citizens under Article 2 of the EU Treaty. A group of 17 member states led by the Netherlands signed a declaration condemning the Hungarian decision. We are "concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy," part of their statement read. EU Commissioner of Justice and Rule of Law Michael McGrath has called freedom of assembly a fundamental right that must be protected. He insisted that Pride marches do not constitute a threat to children, as the Hungarian parliament argued. Meanwhile, Roswall says she does not want to make decisions for others but says that the issue is at the centre of her beliefs and the values of the 27-member bloc. "I don't tell people what to do, but that's what I truly believe in, and that is also the core of the European Union," she explained. The Budapest Pride event is set to take place on 28 June in defiance of the new law, and while several MEPs have indicated their intention to attend, no European Commissioners have.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
EU Commissioner Roswall expresses solidarity with LGBTQ+ community
EU Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resilience, Jessika Roswall, says "anyone who wants to join in solidarity with the LGBTQ community in Hungary should do so." She was responding to the Hungarian government's decision to ban Gay Pride parades, a decision that has been heavily condemned by a majority of EU member states including France, Germany and Spain. "The European Union is built on values, which, of course, we all stand behind, and this is the pressure we are in this union of – one of the key things is built of this precious value of people's freedom and loving whoever they want to, or rule of law and all these things. So I stand, of course, behind that and I myself have been to many prides, only in Stockholm though," she told Euronews. Meanwhile, a Commission source told Euronews that it's unlikely EU Commissioners will stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community as it could be seen to "provoke" Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and open the door to him accusing the EU of interfering in Hungarian affairs. "I think it would play into Orbán's hands were senior people from Brussels to turn up," the source said. However, law experts and some member states argue the European Commission is obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of EU citizens under Article 2 of the EU Treaty. A collaboration of 17 member states led by the Netherlands signed a declaration condemning the Hungarian decision. We are "concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy," part of their statement read. The EU Commissioner of Justice and Rule of Law, Michael Mcgrath, has called freedom of assembly a fundamental right that must be protected. He insisted that Pride parades do not constitute a threat to children, as the Hungarian parliament argued. Meanwhile, Roswall says she does not want to make decisions for others but says that the issue is at the centre of her beliefs and the European Union. "I don't tell people what to do, but that's what I truly believe in, and that is also the core of the European Union." The Budapest Pride parade is set to take place on 28 June in defiance of the new law, and while several MEPs have indicated their intention to attend, no Commissioners have.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Historic gay bar Roosters reopens in West Palm Beach 5 years after fire
H.G. Roosters, West Palm Beach's iconic gay bar, has reopened five years after being destroyed by a fire during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Longtime patrons and politicos crowded into the 80-year-old stone façade building on Belvedere Road on May 19 to hail the restoration of an integral piece of Palm Beach County's history. In honor of its reopening, the Historical Society of Palm Beach County will be hosting a presentation next month on the bar's role in the county's LGBTQ community. In the meantime, here are five things to know about Roosters: When H.G. Roosters opened in 1984, Palm Beach County was populated with several other gay bars, which served a key role as community centers at a time when homosexuality was less widely accepted. Now, as Roosters owner A.J. Wasson told The Palm Beach Post in 2020, those original bars are gone. (Several newer gay bars operate throughout the area). "We're the longest-running gay bar in the state of Florida, for 36 years,' he said. 'There were (once) 19 other gay bars in Palm Beach County, These bars were community centers, for like-minded people who weren't going to judge them.' Palm Beach County's first gay pride parade was held in 1992 in Howard Park — and the owners of Roosters were integral in organizing it. As The Post reported in 2021: 'The bar has served as a hub for civil rights and anti-violence initiatives, AIDS service organizations and others. Its staff in 1992 helped organize the county's first Gay Pride festival, held at Howard Park.' Roosters' historic importance was formalized in 2021, when West Palm Beach city commissioners voted to add it to the city's register of historic places. It was a rare distinction. As The Post reported, Roosters was 'thought then to be only the third LGBTQ bar in the country honored with that designation, with the others being the Atlanta Eagle in Georgia and the Stonewall Inn in New York, site of the riots in 1969 that were a major flashpoint in the push for LGBTQ rights and acceptance.' When bars and restaurants across the country were forced to close in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roosters' owner let the bar's insurance lapse so he could continue to pay his employees. 'I didn't in my wildest dreams think about a fire," Wasson told The Post later. Some two months later, a fire erupted in the building at 823 Belvedere Road, ignited by oily rags that had been used to sand benches, destroying the entire interior except the bar. The Post characterized it as 'an exclamation point of pain in a city whose businesses were reeling.' Roosters' owner had let the business's insurance lapse before the fire that ravaged the building in May 2020. So rebuilding it was a costly endeavor, with costs estimated at $1.7 million. The city commission decided to contribute to the cause, approving $166,000 in grant money last year. "I heartily support this," Mayor Keith James said at the time. "H.G. Roosters has been a landmark, if you will, in this city on behalf of the LGBTQ community, and I think that this is something we should certainly do as a city to keep that building up and running and for what it stands for." Andrew Marra is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. Reach him at amarra@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: H.G. Roosters, historic West Palm gay bar, reopens 5 years after fire
