June is Pride Month

Pride Month is observed each year in the month of June to commemorate the struggle for civil rights and the ongoing pursuit of equal justice under the law for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, as well as honor the contributions, experiences and identities of the LGBTQ+ community. Pride is a time marked by gatherings, parades, festivities and events all over the world.

The event that catalyzed the gay rights movement came in June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police cleared employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement. These riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States, paving the way for organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance which were modeled after the civil rights movement and the women’s rights movement. Members held protests, met with political leaders and interrupted public meetings to hold those leaders accountable. A year after the Stonewall Riots, the nation’s first Gay Pride marches were held. In 2016, the area around the Stonewall Inn, still a popular nightspot today, was designated a national monument during President Barack Obama’s administration.

Pride Month is a time commonly associated with various names, symbols and colors. “Pride” is credited to Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” who organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The rainbow flag is widely known as the universal symbol of Pride. Commissioned by San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, artist, designer and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker created the flag, paying homage to the many groups within the gay community by drawing inspiration from the rainbow. Over the years, the rainbow flag symbol has evolved. Baker’s original design had 8 stripes, included the color pink and was first flown in 1978. In 2017, the city of Philadelphia redesigned the Pride flag to include the colors brown and black to promote diversity and inclusion and to “honor the lives of our black and brown LGBTQ siblings,” the city said in a statement. In 2018, designer Daniel Quasar added five new colors to emphasize progress around inclusion. The flag includes black and brown stripes to represent people of color, and baby blue, pink and white, which are used in the Transgender Pride Flag.

At AMA PDX, diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our values as an organization because marketing is for everyone. We know that we’re stronger as an organization and as a marketing community when people from various backgrounds, experiences and perspectives are included, heard and empowered. Join us this month and all-year-round as we commemorate Pride Month.

Interesting Facts

85% agree

Corporations that support LGBTQ+ equality are more important than ever. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

80% agree

Companies that support LGBTQ+ equality “will get more of my business this year.” (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

73%

Have made a conscious decision to make a purchase over the past 12 months, at least partially due to a company’s LGBTQ+-inclusive outreach, employment practices, or LGBTQ+ supportive political stance. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

Five most important issues facing the LGBTQ+ community

LGBTQ+ equality, health care quality and cost, fair elections/protection of democracy, racial discrimination and ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

Brands that LGBTQ consumers consider as doing the best job outreaching to the community

Absolut, Amazon, American Airlines, Apple, Delta Air Lines, Disney/ABC, Google, Nike, Starbucks, Subaru, Target, TomboyX, and Wells Fargo. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

The LGBTQ+ community trends liberal

56% would describe their political views as liberal and 29% moderate to liberal. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

Advertising in the LGBTQ+ media makes a purchasing difference to 72% of the LGBTQ community

The research shows that advertising in the LGBTQ+ media is more impactful to LGBTQ+ consumers than advertising in the general population media, and the LGBTQ+ community trusts the LGBTQ+ media more than the reporting in the general media. (CMI’s 2020 Annual LGBTQ Community Survey)

More Interesting Facts

$3.7 trillion

LGBTQ+ community’s buying power globally (LGBT Capital)

$917 billion

LGBTQ+ community’s buying power in the U.S. (Witeck Communications)

Living arrangements

543K same-sex married couple households in the U.S.; 469K same-sex unmarried partner households; 191K children living with same-sex partners (Current Population Survey (CPS), Annual Social and Economic Supplement, 2019)

Up-and-coming

8% of Boomers, 13% of GenXers, 20% of Millennials and 31% of GenZ identify as LGBTQ+ (Hornet.com and Kantar Consulting, 2019)