University Libraries at The University of Akron is celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride Month by highlighting select print books, streaming videos, eBooks, and streaming audio, and other materials from our collections. In the spirit of acknowledging and celebrating inclusive stories, we invite you to learn about the lives and experiences of LGBTQIA+ authors, composers, characters, and historical figures by exploring the resources we've highlighted on this guide. If you're on campus during June, please stop by and visit our display at Bierce Library.
*LGBTQIA+ Flag image by The American Library Association
* From The Library of Congress - LGBTQ+ Pride Month
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and More (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as "Gay Pride Day," but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation the "day" soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, and LGBTQIA+ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. 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 1994, a coalition of education-based organizations in the United States designated October as LGBT History Month. In 1995, a resolution passed by the General Assembly of the National Education Association included LGBT History Month within a list of commemorative months. National Coming Out Day (October 11), as well as the first "March on Washington" in 1979, are commemorated in the LGBTQ community during LGBTQ History Month.
* From The Library of Congress - LGBTQ+ Pride Month
