Pride & Progress
The modern LGBTQ+ rights movement was sparked in this year by the Stonewall Riots in New York City.
What is 1969?
This legendary artist's anthem "Born This Way" became a global phenomenon for self-acceptance.
Who is Lady Gaga?
In 2018, this massive professional networking platform introduced a dedicated "Pride" logo variant and launched features to help LGBTQ+ professionals find inclusive workplaces.
What is LinkedIn?
Both Juneteenth and LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations take place concurrently around the world during this specific calendar month.
What is June?
June is globally recognized as a powerhouse month for liberation movements. While Pride Month commemorates the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, Juneteenth celebrates the arrival of freedom in Texas on June 19, 1865.
On the standard 6-color Pride flag, this color sits right at the top and is officially designated to represent "Life."
What is Red?
Gilbert Baker designed the original version of this universal symbol of LGBTQ+ pride in 1978.
What is the Rainbow Flag?
This Emmy-winning reality show features the "Fab Five" helping people transform their lives and style.
What is Queer Eye?
This legendary pop star, known for hits like "Rocket Man," founded one of the world's largest nonprofits dedicated to combatting HIV/AIDS and supporting LGBTQ+ health.
Who is Elton John?
In 1999, this U.S. President issued the very first official royal/presidential proclamation designating June as "Gay & Lesbian Pride Month."
Who is Bill Clinton? (Note: Barack Obama later officially expanded it to include Bisexual and Transgender individuals).
Red food and drink are Juneteenth staples. They symbolize resilience, but specifically pay tribute to these two highly prized West African crops frequently brought over during the transatlantic slave trade.
What are Kola Nuts and Hibiscus?
The tradition of drinking red drinks (like strawberry soda or hibiscus tea, known as bissap) and eating red foods on Juneteenth is deeply spiritual. In Yoruba and Kongo cultures, the color red is a symbol of life force, transformation, and the blood of ancestors. When enslaved West Africans were brought to the Americas, they brought seeds for hibiscus and kola nuts, continuing the tradition of brewing red ritual drinks to celebrate survival and freedom.
On the Progress Pride Flag, the black and brown stripes specifically represent these communities.
What are marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color? (Bonus: Black also represents those living with or lost to HIV/AIDS).
This iconic American singer and actress is affectionately known as the "Goddess of Pop" and a lifelong LGBTQ+ ally.
Who is Cher?
Though born into slavery in 1848, this prolific self-taught engineer and inventor went on to patent the carbon filament, drastically extending the life of Thomas Edison's lightbulb.
Who is Lewis Latimer?
Edison's original paper-filament lightbulb only burned for a few hours, making it incredibly impractical. Latimer—the son of parents who had escaped slavery—invented a process for manufacturing durable carbon filaments. His breakthrough made electric light long-lasting, affordable, and safe for homes and public streets, truly exemplifying the spirit of "progress."
This historic European city is famous for its unique Pride celebration, where instead of a traditional street parade, dozens of brightly decorated boats cruise down its iconic regular canals.
What is Amsterdam?
Before the Rainbow Flag was created, this geometric shape—originally used as a cruel marker in WWII concentration camps—was reclaimed by activists in the 1970s and 80s as a powerful symbol of remembrance and activism.
What is the Pink Triangle?
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in this Texas island city to issue General Order No. 3, officially informing enslaved people of their freedom.
ANSWER: What is Galveston?
In 2021, this hit ballroom-culture drama series made history when Michaela Jaé Rodriguez became the first trans actress to win a Golden Globe.
What is Pose?
This American astronaut became the first American woman in space in 1982, and was posthumously revealed to be the first known LGBTQ+ astronaut.
Who is Sally Ride?
What began as a 2005 seaside day trip organized by Lady Phyll has grown into this massive London festival, now recognized as Europe’s largest celebration for LGBTQ+ people of color.
What is UK Black Pride?
In 2005, activist Phyll Opoku-Gyimah (known widely as "Lady Phyll") and a group of Black lesbian activists organized a bus trip to the coastal resort town of Southend-on-Sea to build community. That small gathering exploded over the years into UK Black Pride, an annual event in London that draws tens of thousands of attendees.
In 2021, designer Valentino Vecchietti updated the Progress Pride Flag by adding a yellow triangle with a purple circle inside the left-hand chevron to explicitly include this community.
What is the Intersex community?
In 1970, revolutionary icons Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera co-founded this pioneering political organization to provide housing and vital support to unhoused transgender youth in New York City.
What is STAR? (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries)
In a brilliant 2017 animated parody of Schoolhouse Rock, this ABC sitcom kicked off its fourth season with a musical episode entirely dedicated to the history of Juneteenth.
What is Black-ish?
At the time it aired in 2017, Juneteenth was not yet recognized as a federal holiday. Pop culture historians widely credit this specific episode with heavily boosting mainstream awareness of June 19th and the historical gap between the Emancipation Proclamation and true liberation.
Fittingly honored at modern Juneteenth STEM events, this "hidden figure" math genius used her early satellite programming to develop the precise mapping data that gave us GPS technology.
Who is Gladys West?
players might guess Katherine Johnson because of the movie Hidden Figures, but Gladys West is the specific trailblazer behind the tech we use on our phones every single day.
This major international event, which moves to a different global city every few years to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights on a massive scale, is hosted by Amsterdam.
What is WorldPride?
Look closely at the Juneteenth flag. The curved border splitting the red and blue sections isn't just a design choice—it represents this specific geographical feature, symbolizing a brand new future for Black Americans.
What is a Horizon?
Created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, every millimeter of the official Juneteenth flag is steeped in meaning. While the star represents Texas and the outer burst represents a nova (a new beginning), the intentional dynamic curve separating the red bottom from the blue top represents a horizon. It signifies the straight line of the future and the endless opportunities that lay ahead for newly liberated people.