Rainbow circles (blvcksquare (123RF))
While many people celebrate Pride Month in June, there are LGBT awareness days throughout the whole year. One prominent awareness event is LGBT History Month: an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of gay rights and the related civil rights movements. Pride month is for the promotion self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people as a social group.
LGBT History Month, observed in October, is dedicated to the celebration of gay and lesbian history. It started in 1994 by Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, who believed that a month should be dedicated to the celebration of gay and lesbian history, and October was chosen because of the many existing LGBT awareness days in the month.
National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an annual LGBT awareness day observed on October 11 to support anyone “coming out of the closet.” First celebrated in 1988, the initial idea was the most basic, yet sometimes most difficult, form of activism: coming out to family, friends, and colleagues, and living life as an open lesbian or gay person. It is not a day to force people out of the closet, because sometimes it isn’t safe for you to be out. Rather, this day encourages those that are still in the closet to come out by showing them that they have loved ones who are lesbian or gay.
On the third Thursday in October, millions go purple to support LGBTQ youth for Spirit Day. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, it was initially created in response to a rash of widely publicized bullying-related suicides of gay school students in 2010, including that of Tyler Clementi. While GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) research shows that LGBTQ acceptance is at an all-time high, so too is anti-LGBTQ discrimination and bullying. Make sure to wear purple as a visible sign of support for LGBTQ youth and against bullying during October, which is also National Bullying Prevention Month.
Asexual Pride Flag (millenius (123RF))
International Pronouns Day happens on the third Wednesday of October. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is a basic right for human dignity. International Pronouns Day seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace. Use #ShareYourPronouns to tell the world why it’s important to use the correct pronouns for everyone. While you may not think sharing pronouns applies to you, just like with National Coming Out Day, sharing pronouns encourages those that are still in the closet to come out by showing that there are loved ones, friends or leadership who cares.
Finally, we have Ace Week. Ace Week, formerly Asexual Awareness Week, is an international campaign dedicated to raising awareness and expanding education of asexuality. 2024 Ace Week takes place October 20 – 26.
