2019 marked one of a few consecutively difficult years for many in the LGBTQIAP+ community for several reasons, but during June of 2019, the global community came together beautifully to put on a Pride Month to remember for the ages. From fabulous festivals to newly released movies, members of the community showed their positive vibes toward being their authentic selves and letting everyone do likewise.

If you’re new to the scene or just aren’t ready to quit celebrating yet, you can party on by looking back at this roundup of some of the biggest highlights from Pride Month 2019. From having a movie night with your special sweetie to rejoicing in advancements of rights, there’s still plenty of accepting love in the air.

A ton of very cool movies and shows came out

So many good films have come out this year already, and more are on the horizon. Consider, for example, Giant Little Ones, a film which definitely requires a stack of tissues nearby, as you’ll cry along with the two protagonists. They deal with the horrors of sexual assault as well as the horrors of therapy meant to “repair” those who are not broken. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s an important reminder during a tumultuous political time of the struggles LGBTQIAP+ individuals face.

The drama series “Pose” aired on BBC in 2018 and has been a hit throughout 2019. This show explores social culture, wealth and the art scene in New York City during the 1980s. It places an emphasis on the LGTBQ+ community and its place in the luxury Trump-era that brought us similar cultural commentary like Bonfire of the Vanities. The show’s themes are strikingly familiar when placed alongside current events.

Want something less heavy? Tune into Rocketman and lose yourself in the subculture of the 80’s and the magic of the music of Elton John. Taron Egerton, from Kingsman: The Secret Service and 2018’s Robin Hood, gives a stellar performance in the lead role. There are a ton of other great movies that came out and have yet to come out this year!

Coming out has been big in the music biz

In the music world as in celebrity news overall, many more artists of different backgrounds are coming out publicly, and it is glorious. Women typically have a tougher time rising high in the rap scene, but Lizzo has killed it this year with her performances, even with the horrifying incident after her riveting performance at Summerfest.

Taylor Swift raised some controversy with You Need to Calm Down, which has many people split. Some, mostly cishet folk, feel she’s exploiting the community to further her fame. However, the video showcases a diverse cast of queer folk of color, and raised a spike of donations to GLAAD. Celebrities using their platform to move social justice activism forward is almost never a bad thing when done with respect.

And could there be anything more awesome than Eugene Lee Yang’s YouTube coming out video entitled simply, I’m Gay Every time another celebrity comes forward, a million more might find their own inner strength.

Some mad celebrations went down worldwide

Pride festivals are always a blast, and this years’ celebrations did not disappoint. The original Pride, New York City Pride, transformed into Worldwide Pride this year. The event commemorates when police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, an event that launched the Pride movement. This event began on June 26 with the actual parade on June 30th. Headliners include Cyndi Lauper, Chaka Khan and Grace Jones.

Mexico City’s Pride enters its 41st year, and they expect over 250,000 revelers to flood the city on June 29 for the big event. The parade ends with a gala in the Zócalo. On the other side of the world in Taiwan, tens of thousands are expected to attend Asia’s biggest Pride event to be held this coming October.

And rainbows reign supreme

The Trump administration in all their prejudicial glory tried to take down the rainbow flag gifted to the historic Stonewall Inn, but some last minute maneuvering kept it flying high nevertheless. Because the sitting president is such an open-minded fellow (joke), he refused to allow the flag to fly on federal land. However, the flagpole where a rainbow flag now hangs proudly is the property of the New York state.

Pride promotion was interesting

Unfailingly, there are always some tone-deaf companies that just exploit events like Pride Month to try to make a quick buck. I don’t think we even need to go there with this Trump hat which raises $0 for anyone but you know who.

However, 30+ companies did get Pride promotion right by donating a portion of the proceeds from merchandise sales to LGBTQIAP+ causes!

And the LGBTQIAP+ community did still have some cool political wins

Despite what the hater contingency has to say, LGBTQIAP+ peeps are here to stay and heroes from our community continue to shine. For example, check out 28-year-old Philadelphia activist Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the state’s first black, openly gay representative last November. He plans to use his platform to work to eradicating poverty. So far in 2019, he participated as a Grand Marshal of the 2019 Philly Pride Parade and has played a hand in helping poise Pennsylvania to ban female genital mutilation (Sidenote: Why is this not banned there already?).

Openly gay Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election in 2019. Up in Massachusetts, Ashton Mota, a 14-year-old transgender boy found love and acceptance in his Lowell community. He co-chaired the Northeast Region Safe Schools Program and was named a Human Rights Campaign Youth Ambassador. The young are our future, and it’s time to celebrate the amazing ones who make up the LGBTQIAP+ community and are working to bring more inclusiveness to our political sphere.

Here’s to a wonderful, inclusive rest of 2019

Although Pride ends at the end of the month in much of the world, celebrating who you truly are knows no boundaries. Let’s strive to make the rest of 2019 as wonderful and inclusive as we can!

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