Virtually everyone around the world heard about the historic ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States proclaiming the right to gay marriage. Members of the LGBT community celebrated across the country, both in person and via social media. However, if you are not a member of this community, you may not know much about Gay Pride.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning persons community, shortened to LGBT, has been persecuted around the globe throughout history. Of course, there have been times of more acceptance in certain societies as well as complete oppression during points throughout history in the world. For instance, in the country of Russia, being homosexual was illegal until 1993 and it is still cause for death in some parts of the world.

The freedoms afforded to Americans by the Constitution have given many people more rights than they would have in other countries. Of course, many of these have been fought for by minority groups since the beginning of the country. One of the oppressed groups that has been struggling for rights is the LGBT community.

Gay pride is really about taking pride in oneself and refusing to be oppressed. All people should celebrate who they are instead of feeling as though they need to hide away their true inner self. A rainbow colored flag is displayed by many in the community as well as their supporters.

In the late 1960’s, a gay bar in New York was raided, which led to riots in the city. In reaction, some in the city began the first pride march, which is a tradition that continues today. Cities across the country have pride marches where participants can openly celebrate their sexual freedom.

These marches and other displays of gay pride not only give participants the opportunity to gladly boast of their preferences, it has increased societal acceptance for those who have different beliefs or preferences.

Although the Supreme Court ruling was very helpful to those who identify as homosexual, or even bisexual, many in the LGBT community feel as though the ruling did not go far enough to include anything regarding the transgender community, which is at greatest risk for being targeted for hate crimes.

As time continues to pass and the gay pride movement becomes stronger, it is likely that other laws will be passed to afford these members of society greater protection from oppressors.