Happy Pride Month to all! LGBTQ+ history is full of people, communities, courage, and triumph going back thousands and thousands of years.
Annapolis Pride (June 1st): 2024 Annapolis Parade & Festival | Annapolis Pride
Baltimore Pride (June 15th-16th): HOME | Baltimore Pride Fest
Delmarva Pride (June 13th-16th): Delmarva Pride Festival - Delmarva Pride Center
Baltimore Trans Pride (June 29th): Baltimore Trans Pride 2024
Happy Pride Month to all! While many think of the 1950s and 1960s as the “official” start to the US Queer Movement, we know that LGBTQ+ people have ALWAYS been here! Our history is full of people, communities, courage, pain, and triumph going back thousands and thousands of years.
Chase Brexton Health Care is a part of that history.
The founders of Chase Brexton were LGBTQ+ activists, providers, volunteers, and community members who, in 1978, began a small gay men’s STI clinic. As the years went on, Chase Brexton Health Care grew and responded, providing healthcare for all who needed it.
As you celebrate throughout the month, know that we celebrate right alongside you. As LGBTQ+ people, our existence and expressions-of-self can sometimes feel like a balancing act as we navigate safety, advocacy, exhaustion, and exploration. You may be feeling a variety of different emotions... maybe frustration, fear, joy, happiness, or a combination- and that’s okay! At The Institute for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, we are ready to listen, learn, provide comfort, and reassurance that is empathetic and intersectional.
Short video produced by AARP that covers a selection of historic events and people over the past 200+ years: History of Pride Since The 1800s (youtube.com)
Playlist with videos of Chase Brexton History and foundation in LGBTQ+ care: Chase Brexton History - YouTube
In this video, our Center for LGBTQ Health Equity’s Kate Bishop leads a presentation on The History of Baltimore Pride: History of Baltimore Pride June 2021 - YouTube
Read more about The Stonewall Uprising of 1969 and The Christopher Street Liberation Day known as the first Pride Parade (1970): Today in History - June 28 | Library of Congress (loc.gov)
Learn about historic queer coding in art: The Queer Code: Secret Languages of LGBTQ+ Art - YouTube
How Ancient Mythologies Defy the Gender Binary: How Ancient Mythologies Defy the Gender Binary | Fate & Fabled (youtube.com)
bell hooks speaks about systems of domination working in tandem bell hooks on interlocking systems of domination (youtube.com)
Audre Lorde and the 1979 March for Lesbian and Gay Rights: Audre Lorde and the 1979 March for Lesbian and Gay Rights | Pride History | Amazon Music (youtube.com)
Learn about the history of queer representation in Children’s Animation: How Queer Characters Have Evolved In Children's Animation | Movies Insider (youtube.com)
History You Didn’t Learn: The Lavender Scare The Lavender Scare | The History You Didn't Learn | TIME (youtube.com)
The (Gay) Harlem Renaissance: The (Gay) Harlem Renaissance | The History You Didn't Learn (youtube.com)
Library of Congress: About Pride Month: About | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month | Library of Congress (loc.gov)
National Archives: LGBTQ+ Pride Month: LGBTQ+ Pride Month | National Archives
Smithsonian: Celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month: Celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month | Smithsonian Institution (si.edu)
EVERY BODY Documentary (Intersex): EVERY BODY - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters June 30 (youtube.com)
The Asexual Visibility and Education Network: The Asexual Visibility and Education Network | asexuality.org
The Trevor Project: Crisis Services for LGBTQ+ Youth: The Trevor Project Celebrates New Appropriations for 988 Lifeline’s Specialized Crisis Services for LGBTQ Youth | The Trevor Project
National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day (Chase Brexton): National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day - YouTube
LGBT Baltimore (Images of Modern America): LGBT Baltimore (Images of Modern America): Kelley, Louise Parker: 9781467133661: Amazon.com: Books
Violet delights: A queer history of purple: Violet delights: A queer history of purple (vam.ac.uk)
Importance of Lavender
Shades of purple have long been associated with the LGBTQ+ community. Purple is bold, expressive, a combination of blues, pinks, and reds. It represents a spectrum of beauty, a spectrum of gender, expression, sexuality, experiences, identities. Violets have historically been used in sapphic theatre, poetry, and identification. In the 1920s, lavender became a common slur used to describe gay men, inspiring the name of the “Lavender Scare” in which queer people were targeted and persecuted by the government. Starting in the 1950s and continuing for several decades, the reclamation of lavender began to occur, being used to name organizations and publications. We recognize the history that lavender holds and honor it as a symbol of the beauty, strength, and resilience of our community.
Explore the video links below featuring these amazing LGBTQ+ leaders!
Explore like... Judith Butler
Advocate like... River Gallo
Write like... George Takei
Care like... Lucy Hicks Anderson
Play like... Howard Ashman
Lead like... José Sarria
Organize like... Bayard Rustin
Inspire like... William Dorsey Swann
Educate like... Yasmin Benoit
Dream like... Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon
Challenge like... Audre Lorde
Fight like... Mauree Turner
Build like... Gil Mangaoang
Judith Butler is a professor, writer, and thinker at The University of California, Berkeley. She is the well-known author of Gender Trouble and Bodies that Matter, two groundbreaking pieces of Queer Theory from the 1990s. She believes that the current assault on gender is an assault on democracy and wants to be a part of the creation of effective and creative ways to counter the attack on gender.
Video: Berkeley professor explains gender theory | Judith Butler (youtube.com)
River Gallo is an intersex rights activist, storyteller, actor, and filmmaker. They were a featured participant in the documentary, EVERY BODY, which explores the oppression of intersex people in society and within the medical community. River is also a first-generation Salvadorian American who explores their experiences of living in the in-betweens. Check out their recent film, Ponyboi.
Video: River Gallo on Their Intersex Identity at the Heart of 'Ponyboi' (youtube.com)
George Takei is well-known actor, educator, and author. He has recently written a children’s book, My Lost Freedom about his experience being incarcerated with his family in Arkansas during WWII for being Japanese American. He is also a queer activist, with an active social media presence.
Video: George Takei: This Heirloom Preserves The Memory Of My Family’s Internment During WWII - YouTube
Lucy Hicks Anderson was born in Kentucky in 1886, before moving to California as an adult. She was well-known in her community, hosting parties and running a boarding house during the prohibition era. She is considered the first trans person to go to court to fight for her marriage. While she lost the case, her story and legacy are profound.
Howard Ashman was born in Baltimore, MD in 1950, performing in stage shows throughout his childhood. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Howard worked in New York, writing lyrics for shows such as God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Little Shop of Horrors, and Smile. At Walt Disney Animation Studios, Howard wrote lyrics for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Video: The Unique Queerness of Howard Ashman's Songs | Dreamsounds (youtube.com)
José Sarria was a legendary Columbian-American drag performer, queer rights activist, veteran, and leader. He served in the Army during WWII as the only Latinx soldier in an all-white unit. After returning from the war, José was not able to be a teacher, so he became a community leader and was the first openly gay candidate for public office in the US when he ran for the San Francisco City Board of Supervisors. His legacy lives on through the José Sarria Foundation.
Video: How Jose Sarria’s activism paved the way for gay candidates in the U.S. (youtube.com)
Bayard Rustin was an incredible thinker, leader, and organizer of the Civil Rights Movement. He was the lead strategist responsible for organizing The March on Washington in under two months. He believed in nonviolence and popularized the phrase, “speaking truth to power.” Rustin’s gay identity impacted his visibility within the Civil Rights Movement during his lifetime. In 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Video: Bayard Rustin: The man who transformed the civil rights movement (youtube.com)
William Dorsey Swann was born in Maryland as an enslaved person in the mid-1800s. In his 20s he became a figure in the Washington DC queer scene, hosting dance parties and drag events. He is the first known person to use the phrase, “Queen of Drag.” Swann was arrested many times over the years for hosting his parties, confronting officers directly when they broke up the gatherings.
Yasmin Benoit is an asexual activist, model, speaker, and content creator. She educates about the lack of media representation of asexual people and how this is harmful, invalidating, and delegitimizing. She also educates on the intersection of acephobia and race. In 2023, Yasmin was the first openly asexual person to be a grand marshal at NYC Pride.
Video: Asexuals need media representation | Yasmin Benoit | TEDxUAMonticello - YouTube
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon began a social, educational, political, and empowerment organization, The Daughters of Bilitis, specifically for lesbians. The group’s publication, The Ladder, was the first lesbian publication to have national distribution. In 2004, they were the first same-sex couple to legally marry in the United States. [They were married again in 2008 after the 2004 marriage was overturned.]
Audre Lorde was a groundbreaking writer, poet, and scholar born in 1930s Harlem to Carribean immigrant parents. She described herself as, “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Lorde was instrumental in the intersectional feminism movement, with her works such as The Master’s Tools Will Not Dismantle the Master’s House becoming foundational to studies of race, class, and gender. Her poetry and prose live on with readers across the globe.
Video: Why you need to know the work of Audre Lorde (youtube.com)
Mauree Turner was the first nonbinary person to be elected to serve in a state legislature [Oklahoma, State House District 88] in the US. Turner believes their intersectional identities and shared lived experiences with constituents foster a positive synergy and feelings of collaboration. One of their top priorities is criminal justice reform.
Gil Mangaoang was born in 1947 in San Francisco, CA. He is a gay elder, HIV activist, and advocate for the Filipino American community. Mangaoang is also a writer, completing his compelling memoir, Flutter Free, in 2020.
Video: Gil's story in "A Time to Rise" (youtube.com), Memoir: Gil's Memoirs (carlosbulosanbookclub.org)
Visit The Institute for EDI's Anti-Racism Resources page here: Anti-Racism Resources | Chase Brexton Health Care
