The month of June is when LGBTQI+ communities and allies around the world come together to celebrate Pride in a multitude of powerful acts of visibility, resistance, and solidarity with LGBTQI+ people everywhere.
Pride is more than a celebration
Pride is a protest, a demand, and a promise that we—and so many others—will never stop fighting for the human rights of LGBTQI+ people. This year, as World Pride comes to Washington, D.C., the harsh experiences that many LGBTQI+ people face in their day-to-day lives are a far cry from the colorful, inclusive, and celebratory street scene of many Pride events. The human rights of LGBTQI+ people are under attack in countries around the world, and the U.S. is no exception.
Pride is political
Pride has always been a response to injustice. The first Pride march in 1970 followed the Stonewall uprising, where queer and transgender people, especially Black and brown trans women, resisted police violence and systemic exclusion. More than 50 years later, LGBTQI+ people are still fighting for the right to live freely and safely.
Pride events are about human rights
They empower queer and transgender people to reclaim the human rights and public space they’ve been denied. And in moments like this, when governments are attempting to silence or erase LGBTQI+ people, Pride is an act of resistance.
The attack on LGBTQI+ rights is global
Pride is an important time to recognize that governments across the world continue to discriminate against, suppress, and threaten LGBTQI+ people. For instance:
- In Hungary, the parliament passed a law that effectively bans Pride marches. Join us in urging Hungarian authorities to ensure the June 28 Budapest Pride march goes ahead without unjust restrictions, intimidation, or violence.
- Russian security forces recently detained at least 10 individuals in Moscow for publishing LGBTQI+-themed books.Â
- Tunisia has seen a spike in arrests of LGBTQI+ people.
- In Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and some states in Nigeria and Somalia, people can be sentenced to death if they engage in consensual, same-sex sexual acts.Â
- More than 60 countries around the world still have laws criminalizing being gay. Â
Backsliding in the U.S.
Upon returning to office this January, President Trump immediately rescinded several executive orders that previously protected the rights and well-being of women and LGBTQI+ individuals. Since then, his administration has issued executive orders targeting these communities, with particular hostility directed at transgender people.
The administration banned transgender individuals from serving in the military, restricted gender markers on official documents like passports and visa applications, attempted to limit access to gender-affirming medical care, and prohibited transgender girls from participating in school sports or using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. These efforts represent a broader pattern of attacks on transgender and nonbinary people. The attacks and attempts to erase transgender people are so harmful that other countries have issued warnings to people who may be traveling to the U.S.
The attack on LGBTQI+ people intersects with other anti-rights actions from the Trump administration. Take, for example, Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist who fled Venezuela because he feared for his life. Andry, an asylum seeker, was recently unlawfully expelled to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador without a hearing, legal notice, or due process. He was one of more than 200 people sent to Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a prison known for extreme violence and abuses.
Get involved!
LGBTQI+ people around the globe should be able to live with dignity and fully enjoy all their human rights, including their rights to life, freedom and safety.
Whether you’re on campus, in your neighborhood, or online, there are many ways to take action and build a world where LGBTQI+ rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.Together, we will never stop fighting for a world where everybody’s rights are fully protected, respected and fulfilled.