June is LGBT Pride Month, a nationwide observance held every year in recognition of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, as well as the impact its people have had in the world.

“I feel like LGBT Pride month affects Sailors and the Navy in the sense that it gives LGBT service members comfort in knowing that they can be who they are and live life out loud without any judgment,” said Yeoman 2nd Class Jacob Tate, a member of the heritage committee aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). “It also gives LGBT Sailors a sense of belonging. Things like that are good for morale and for mental health.”

The LGBT community has contributed to the Department of Defense (DOD) in the way of dedicated service and sacrifice of its members.

Under the policies of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and even before, LGBT service members defended the United States at the cost of living openly. While the DOD officially recognizes the observance of Pride Month now, the road to LGBT acceptance in the military was littered with milestones across multiple decades.

The origin of LGBT Pride Month began with the Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising or Stonewall Rebellion, widely considered to constitute the most important event leading to the gay liberation movement.

According to the New York City website, nyc.gov, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, on June 28, 1969. Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s, and those that did were routinely subjected to police raids. However, the response that night was far from routine. Hundreds of members of the LGBT community took part in sporadic riots over the course of six days, demanding an end to police harassment, arrests, and raids on gay establishments.

Inspired by these events, Brenda Howard, an American LGBT rights activist, pioneered an event that would come to inspire LGBT Pride Month.

According to the Library of Congress website, loc.gov, Howard coordinated a rally and march, known as the Christopher Street Liberation Day March. The march occurred on Saturday, June 28, 1970, commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion. Known as the “Mother of Pride,” Howard also came up with the idea for a week-long series of events celebrating LGBT pride, which eventually evolved into the month-long observance we know today.

“I'm thankful for those pioneers,” said Tate. “Without them, we would have no Pride Month, no pride parades, and we as a country probably would not have made it this far in regards to tolerance and acceptance. Without them, a lot of LGBT pride events wouldn't be possible today.”

As support of the observance grew, so did its recognition amongst elected officials, including the president of the United States.

According to the Naval History and Heritage Command website, history.navy.mil, President Bill Clinton issued Proclamation No. 7316 on June 2, 2000, officially declaring June as the first Gay and Lesbian Pride Month nationwide. In the proclamation, Clinton discussed the prejudice and discrimination experienced by gay and lesbian Americans, and how many have had to hide their sexuality in order to maintain a life of safety and stability. President Clinton expressed his pride regarding progress made in the years leading up to the proclamation to protect against further prejudice and persecution. In the proclamation, Clinton stated, “This June, recognizing the joys and sorrows that the gay and lesbian movement has witnessed and the work that remains to be done, we observe Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and celebrate the progress we have made in creating a society more inclusive and accepting of gays and lesbians.”

Building on this gesture, President Barack Obama would go on to make a similar declaration in 2009.

According to the Naval History and Heritage Command website, Obama issued Proclamation No. 8387 on June 1, 2009, officially declaring June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. Obama stated in the proclamation, “I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security.” He ended with the statement that, “by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.”

In December 2010, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) Repeal Act became law. By September of the following year it would be fully implemented, allowing LGBT service members to serve openly in the military. Another year later, the DOD began to observe LGBT Pride Month in June 2012.

“Pride month impacts me personally because, as a gay man, I see it as a celebration of how much I have grown,” said Tate. “I went from being scared to come out of the closet, to being out and open and adopting a dog with my boyfriend. It's really nice to be able to look back and see how far I've come personally with my sexuality, in addition to feeling like I'm closer to my family than I was before coming out.”

This year marks the seventh official observance of LGBT Pride Month throughout the DOD, and there have been numerous policy advances in that time. Whether straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, LGBT Pride Month is a time for all Americans to come together in a show of support for this community.

For Sailors interested in learning more about LGBT Pride or showing their support, an LGBT Pride Month event is scheduled on the mess deck of the floating accommodation facility (FAF) on Wednesday, June 19 at 9 a.m.

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