Latest news with #PrideMonth2025
Spectator
24-06-2025
- Health
- Spectator
NHS trust embroiled in trans row releases ‘divisive' Pride calendar
While Britain's NHS remains on its knees, with A&E waiting times still unacceptably long and bed-blocked preventing sick patients from accessing wards, you'd think that all hands would be on deck to help make patient passages through hospital even a little more comfortable. Not in the County Durham and Darlington hospital trust. The trust's LGBT network has instead been hard at work producing, er, a 36-page digital Pride Month calendar. Time well spent, eh? Inside, Pride Month 2025 contains graphics that tie each day of June to the celebration of a particular LGBT theme, showing flags representing a colourful variety of different genders and sexualities placed on different dates. Amid the vibrant images are flags for pansexual people – individuals attracted to 'all types' of people regardless of 'gender or sexual orientation' – and the polyamorous, which is defined in the document as a 'relationship style in which more than two people engage in intimate, consensual relationship'. Other themes include drag – to be celebrated on 7 June – with details later in the booklet about how it 'evolved' throughout then 1900s. And the calendar – which was sent as a digital file to the trust's employees at the start of June – also points readers towards works by 'prevalent LGBTQ+ authors', including trans writer Juno Dawson. How very curious… The calendar has sparked outrage, with some at the hospital dubbing it 'divisive', not least because it comes as eight Darlington nurses – who were forced to form their own union to defend the rights of women – sued the trust and won their landmark battle for a female-only changing room at work. And it has also ruffled feathers after directing staff towards Mermaids, a trans youth charity that was embroiled in scandal after it emerged it had agreed to send chest binders – which pose serious health risks – to 14-year-olds without parental consent, while the Charity Commission found that Mermaids' guidance on puberty blocker safety was inaccurate. For its part, a spokesperson for the trust insisted: The calendar was developed and shared internally, during June which is nationally recognised as Pride Month, as part of the work led by our LGBTQ+ staff network, using time allocated through our staff network group framework… The calendar was intended to be a supportive, optional resource for staff. It was shared in a gentle and non-directive way, with no call to action. As an organisation, we are committed to creating a workplace where all colleagues feel safe, supported and respected. Mr S wonders quite what the Darlington eight have to say about that…
New Indian Express
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Art & activism join hands as transgenders take part in Aravani Art Project
NEW DELHI: As part of its Pride Month 2025 celebration, the Instituto Cervantes in Delhi unveiled a collaborative mural created by the Aravani Art Project, in partnership with the Naz Foundation. The event was marked by a panel discussion with artists and community leaders, foregrounding the intersections of art, activism, and state engagement in trans-led cultural work. The mural unveiled at the institute is part of Mes del Orgullo 'Pride Month', an initiative supported by the Spanish Cooperation, The Queer Muslim Project, and Naz Foundation. Alongside the mural, the evening featured a panel and DJ set by queer Muslim artist BB Nabi. The panel, moderated by Sahil Choudhary, Program Director at the New Delhi LGBTQIA+ Centre of Naz Foundation, featured Aravani Project members Kanchana, Vinni, and Poornima Sukumar, the founder of the trans-led collective. The Aravani Art Project, a collective of trans and gender-diverse artists, has become known for transforming public spaces across India and abroad, from Bengaluru underpasses to Mumbai's civic walls, and even Bangkok Airport. 'What has been interesting is that the government has approached us for these projects,' one of the speakers shared. 'This is not just about colour on walls,' Sukumar said during the panel. 'It's about telling stories that aren't usually heard in elite cultural spaces... Because art gives us something we're often denied – space.'
USA Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Opinion: What does Pride month mean to the LGBTQ+ community in 2025?
Opinion: What does Pride month mean to the LGBTQ+ community in 2025? | The Excerpt On a special episode (first released on June 9, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: As Pride Month 2025 gets underway across the country (albeit with fewer corporate sponsors), we asked what pride means to you – not just the parades, protests and community, but also your feelings, fears and hopes – and whether it can continue to exist in its current form. Here's what you told us. Forum is a series from USA TODAY's Opinion team that is dedicated to showcasing views from across the political spectrum on issues that Americans are starkly divided on. If you'd like to weigh in on a different topic, you can find more questions at And if your submission is selected for print, we might invite you to add your voice to a future special bonus episode like this one. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Michael McCarter: Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. LGBTQ+ rights are back in the spotlight as President Donald Trump issues executive orders banning transgender military service members and rescinding funding from educational institutions that allow trans athletes to compete in sports. So far, in 2025, more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community have been introduced across America. As Pride Month 2025 gets underway across the country, we asked what Pride means to you, not just the parades, protests, and community, but also your feelings, fears, hopes, and whether it can continue to exist in its current form. I'm Michael McCarter. I lead the opinion sections of Gannett, the parent company of USA TODAY. This is a bonus episode of The Excerpt highlighting a series from USA TODAY's opinion team called Forum. Here's what readers told us. Gillian Gurney is 26 and lives in New York. She shared that current events have made Pride more important and that Pride must be seen through the lens of revolution and protest. Gillian Gurney: Pride is beyond important though in the current climate we are seeing people try to consistently attack this month in a way that hasn't been seen in several decades. And to me, Pride means so much more than just the joy and courage that we exude as a community year round. But I think this time specifically is a time to acknowledge the revolution that it took to get us here. This is my second Pride being publicly out at age 26, and I think back to people like my grandfather, who is an out gay man, but wasn't able to actually be out until the 1980s when at the same time, the AIDS crisis was rampant throughout his community and he lost several friends to AIDS unknowing as to why, and was treated like a national pariah. So not only is Pride about joy, but Pride is also about honoring those who came before us to make things like this possible. Trump has never been shy about his direct homophobia, transphobia, and attacks against the queer community amidst at least every other minority community in this country. His hateful rhetoric and quite frankly, unconstitutional directives that he's issued since his first day in office that are purporting baseless attacks on our community that doesn't affect him in any way are deeply concerning. So if corporations, organizations, communities, lawmakers and individuals at every single level of both government and public sector and private sector don't stand up and mobilize and advocate in ways that we need, we could see our country fall back into a time where being yourself could be punishable by law. And we're already starting to see that. This highlights the responsibility that we have both as queer people and both as allies to stand up and not allow that to happen because the second that we curtail to being silenced, that's when the other side wins. The queer community is both a very diverse community in and of itself, and I think my question would be how can we unite together and not allow other communities to split us up into further factions and band together to make sure that we're able to help everyone? Michael McCarter: Sixty-four-year-old David Thibodeau lives in Washington D.C. He's concerned about the threat of violence at Pride events across the country. David Thibodeau: I mean, I've worked corporate for a long time and they were strong supporters of Pride and I hate to see corporations and their support for Pride, I hate to see that atrophy. I think it is important. I probably won't be going to Pride this year, even though [inaudible 00:03:55] is holding World Pride. Last year during Pride, there were a lot of warnings from the previous administration about credible terrorist threats to Prides across the country, and this year there have been none, and it gives me pause because I don't think those groups that were issuing the threats last year have stopped issuing threats. I think that this administration is not paying attention to those groups anymore, so it's a matter of safety. I actually had invited family to come down because it was World Pride this year, and I've kind of uninvited them. I don't want them to be in the middle of anything that might be unsafe. Kind of goes back to when I was a lot younger. Maybe I feel like we've gone 30 years back in time, maybe 40 years. I don't know. I think that anti-LGBTQ voices, their groups are being given a voice and I'm not sure that they represent the greater sentiment of the population. I'm pretty sure that they don't. I think we need to recognize more the root of these events and where they come from and that they are form of protest. There should be more room for a somber recollection of why these events are important. Michael McCarter: Houston, Texas native Jazz Paz told us she sees Pride as one way to honor elders in the LGBTQ+ community. She's 73. Jazz Paz: I think Pride month is very important and to me it means the celebration of our survivorship. It means that we recognize and are grateful to our elders who made Pride happen. What I'm seeing, especially this year, is big corporations wanting to participate anonymously, which doesn't seem very Pride-ful to me. There are also, of course, the ones that only come out for the Pride events and we never hear or see from them again. That makes me kind of mad. Ones like Target that used to be supportive are now almost like against us, and I think it is a lot of the DEI pushback that we're seeing from this prevailing political environment. I suspect the federal government might continue to honor Pride Month with lip service, but I don't think they're proud of us and I don't think they like us, and I don't think they're going to be enthusiastically endorsing us for the next several years. I'm a little bit sad that Pride Month has sort of devolved into just partying. There's no sense of, at least in Houston, there didn't seemed to be any recognition of what made all this necessary or possible. It was a political and very serious, it was joyful, but it was taken seriously. In the beginning, in Pride in Houston all the bars closed, all the stores closed. Everybody was in the street watching the parade. There was a band. There was very creative floats. But it was just for our community, nobody else even knew about it. And now there's people with babies in strollers and their grandparents are there, and it's a spectacle. It's no longer, in Houston at least to me, it's no longer an honoring holiday. I think too many of the elders that suffered and really, really worked hard to make this possible have passed on. I think the more younger generations don't have any idea how hard it was just to survive as a gay person. It was against the law to be gay. It was against the law for women to wear front zipping pants in Houston years ago, maybe like 50 or 60 years ago. And all the people that went to jail and a lot of them committed suicide when they were going to be outed in the newspapers, I don't think young people realize any of that. I think there's a lot of difference between reading about it or hearing about it and knowing the people that separate these things and knowing them personally as your friend. Michael McCarter: KJ Novoa is 27 and he's from Douglas, Arizona. He shared that Pride can't be erased even if corporations and politics stand against it. KJ Novoa: I think Pride means a lot of things to me, but first and foremost, it means visibility. I think I associate Pride with being out not just in terms of social media or in the media sphere, but also just in the world, being authentic, being ourselves. It's a reminder that we're free to be ourselves in this day and age no matter where the political winds may swing. I do think corporations play some role in Pride, and I do think that could be a positive thing and also to our detriment. Corporations obviously provide a lot of visibility whether we like it or not, and they are sort of a gateway to exposure for whatever cause that we may want to put out there. I think that in the same way, corporations pulling out based on a political direction being inconvenient for them can also be to our detriment, because then that means less visibility for us. We shouldn't have to depend on corporations or big companies for this type of exposure and visibility for any type of marginalized community, but unfortunately we do. I think within the LGBTQ community, we have to ask ourselves regarding Pride, are we going to hinge so much on corporate support? Are we going to hinge so much on whether a certain president supports us or not? Are we going to hinge so much on public opinion that we let that decide whether we want to be visible or not? Whether we want to be out and about free and showing who we are without embarrassment or without any type of reservation? I feel like even though I'm only 27 years old, I have learned a lot about LGBTQ history, and I know there's been many cases throughout history where there was times where the politics at the time were even more hostile towards LGBTQ people, whether it was during the Reagan years and when the AIDS crisis started to emerge, or the Lavender Scare when people were afraid of being associated even with certain colors or walking or acting a certain way because they thought it would get them labeled as gay and thrown out of their jobs. So I think we need to remember that above all, we're resilient, and regardless of whether political winds swing right or left, I think that at the end of the day, we have to remember we're not going to be erased. Michael McCarter: That's all we have for today's episode. This is a co-production with the Forum team at USA TODAY, where we invite our readers to weigh in writing on a national topic of interest. If your submission is selected for print, we might invite you to add your voice to a future special bonus episode like this one. There's a link to Forum in the show description. Let us know what you think about this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Thanks for listening. I'm Michael McCarter, vice president of the Gannett Opinion Group. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.
USA Today
09-06-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Pride mattered when it was 'our' holiday. There's nothing to be proud of now.
Pride mattered when it was 'our' holiday. There's nothing to be proud of now. | Your Turn Do you think it's important to have a Pride Month? Are you concerned the Trump administration may try to further infringe upon the rights of LGBTQ+ people? Here's what you said. You've likely heard the phrase, "Pride started as a riot." And while it's true that pride as we know it grew out of the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969 – the first pride parade took place one year later on June 28, 1970, with protest marches occurring in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles – LGBTQ+ history is still unfolding today. Did you know it was still illegal to be gay as recently as 22 years ago? In 2003, the Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas decriminalized same-sex sexual conduct, ruling state sodomy laws as unconstitutional. And it wasn't until 10 years ago, in 2015, that full marriage equality arrived with the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. And it wasn't until 2020 – five years ago – that the Supreme Court ruled protections against workplace discrimination extended to sexual orientation and gender identity. Under President Donald Trump's second administration, LGBTQ+ rights are back in the spotlight as he issues executive orders banning transgender military servicemembers and rescinding funding from educational institutions that allow trans athletes to compete in sports. So far in 2025, more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community have been introduced across America. As Pride Month 2025 gets underway across the country (albeit with fewer corporate sponsors), we asked what pride means to you – not just the parades, protests and community, but also your feelings, fears and hopes – and whether it can continue to exist in its current form. Here's what readers told us. Share your take: Republicans want massive cuts to Medicaid. What do you want? Tell us. | Opinion Forum I'm saddened by what pride ‒ and our country ‒ has become Pride Month was extraordinarily significant to me when it was "our" holiday, until about 15-20 years ago. Since then, it has become a politically divisive public spectacle that is nothing to be proud of. All the corporate trucks and vans with no apparent association to our community, driving slowly down the parade route without even decorating their vehicles, are extravagantly insulting. Recently, there have been more gawking straight families in attendance than LGBTQ+ people. I'm not at all disappointed with the businesses that are no longer participating in pride events. Their duplicitous "support" only benefited themselves. Our pride is not a commodity, despite the ignorance of younger LGBTQ+ people. When Pride Month was new in Houston, every business in the Montrose neighborhood closed for the duration of the parade, even the bars. Andy Mills and Ray Hill assumed risks to their lives to direct us participants in the parade down Westheimer Road. They tolerated police raids, arrests and physical abuse by the cops for living authentic lives. They protected marchers from the Ku Klux Klan that threatened us about 40 years ago. Young community members are completely unaware that this is not a frivolous observation. My wife and I have been exclusively committed for 33 years. In June 2015, the Supreme Court declared our marriage rights and we married the following week. We're in our 70s now and poor. But we're so fearful of President Donald Trump annulling our union that we're selling everything we own to move to Mexico. We have made two frugal trips and now have official Mexican residency cards. We anticipate leaving for good on June 8, the day after my best friend's funeral. We hope never, ever to return. To the younger LGBTQ+ community: Please educate yourselves. There are only a few of us who were there in the beginning, but we'll be happy to share our information. And the fact is that we feel thoroughly disrespected by you. — Jazz Paz, 73, Houston Pride is so much more than rainbows and parades to me Without a doubt, Pride Month is important, and it means so much more to me than rainbows and parades. From an outside view, it's easy to look at pride as a corporate-centered, rehearsed display of disingenuous virtue signaling. To those of us in the community, that skin-deep assumption is lobbed at us every June. Pride to me, however, means acceptance. It means reflecting on the endless strife for equality ‒ in marriage, in employment, in housing and in spousal rights. We're celebrating how far we've come, but we're also rallying for the future and the challenges our community still faces. Corporations and their involvement in Pride Month have long been controversial. Many in our community welcome the awareness, visibility and donations to LGBTQ+ causes. However, others see corporate sponsoring as a market scheme to cash out on our community and its allies by slapping some rainbows on merchandise for a month or making a cliché social media post advertising their support every first of June. Your Turn: I think the WNBA's popularity is here to stay – thanks to Caitlin Clark | Opinion Forum Indeed, the reversal of several companies this year, deciding that pride is no longer profitable to them during this political climate, has shown just how shallow their sponsorship was all along. When they were given the chance to prove that those who were always skeptical of corporate support of pride were wrong, they didn't hesitate to bend the knee to bigotry and prove the pessimists correct. The very crux of Trump's second presidency has been to target minorities, whether it be us, racial minorities, the undocumented and many more. I think it's important to point out that just six years ago, Trump was declaring his support for Pride Month on Twitter during his first term. His administration's actions, back then, proved to be the opposite of supporting the LGBTQ+ community, but he still had the gall to at least pretend he cared about us. Now, Trump wouldn't dare even mention Pride Month in a positive light because the fringe conservative wing he aligns himself with has grown so hateful and obsessed with LGBTQ+ issues that showing any shred of kindness to us would be worthy of excommunication to them. I would be dumbfounded if the federal government recognized Pride Month during this administration. Cruelty, brashness and classlessness highlight the priorities of this administration. None of these are compatible with pride or what we stand for, so it's easy to see why it's an absolute no for them. Marginalization and apathy are all that Trump and his allies know. My questions to the older LGBTQ+ generations would be: How have you remained so resilient? — Jacob Vertrees, 21, Phoenix My partner and I won't be at Pride Month. I fear for those who will. I used to think pride was important, but I think that pride, and a lot of other gay events, have been overshadowed by the prevalence and acceptance of drugs in the LGBTQ+ community. Although we have in the past, my partner and I won't be attending this year, specifically because of this. I think sponsors are pulling out because they don't want to be associated with what it has become. It took an alarming amount of time for permits to be approved for WorldPride in Washington, DC. I am expecting them to arrest people who congregate on federal lands. — David Thibodeau, 64, Washington, DC This is just my 2nd Pride Month out. It feels like finally exhaling. I think Pride Month's importance cannot be overstated enough. To me, pride means visibility, courage and, most important, joy. It's the exhale of built-up closeted anxiety and fears finally being able to be truly released among a community of those who not only accept you for who you are, but also celebrate it. This will be just my second Pride Month where I'm publicly out, and my grandfather is a gay man who had to live in shame and had the courage to finally come out in the 1980s while his friends died suddenly of AIDS. Pride is also about honoring those who came before us, who paved the way for our freedom. I absolutely think corporations and businesses have a role in pride. With such a large, influential monetary impact on society amid a backdrop of volatile and dangerous political rhetoric, corporations have a responsibility and moral obligation to support heritage events like Pride Month. Corporations can make a very powerful impact, which can not only change the lives of those who are struggling but also help boost their own success and productivity. Diversity makes things run smoothly and work better. Trump is not shy about his direct homophobia, transphobia and attacks against the LGBTQ+ community. His putrid policies, hateful rhetoric and unconstitutional directives purport baseless attacks on the community that do not affect him in any way. If corporations, organizations, communities, lawmakers and individuals do not stand up, mobilize and advocate, we could see our country fall back in time where something as simple as being yourself is punishable by law. With right-wing extremists at the helm, there is no telling what their next move will be. Would it be surprising? Not at all. But we have the responsibility ‒ as queer people, and those who are allies ‒ to stand up and not allow that to happen. Shunning our pride federally will not and cannot stop celebrations; that's how they win. How can we rise together to combat this hatred? — Gillian Gurney, 26, New York City I'm an educator. I see how meaningful pride is to marginalized students. As an educator, I realize that marginalized students face daily criticism from false stereotypes, misguided religious zealots and even their parents. Pride Month is not some "liberal" plot. It is a month to recognize marginalized citizens in our society. If we can have Mother's Day, Veterans Day and other events to recognize specific groups, it seems the only ones who dispute helping subgroups are the intolerant haters. Yes to helping anyone in the United States who needs help, not ignoring or hating them. Since the war on diversity, equity and inclusion began with Project 2025's hope of making America more white-male centric, many American citizens have rejected this arrogant, racist theory. Businesses like Target and Tesla are losing financially and in public opinion. The Trump administration's goal is to keep the American culture wars as inflamed as possible to deflect from gross mismanagement by Elon Musk and the Republican budget cuts to health care that will decimate senior citizens who rely on Social Security and Medicare for their survival. Sounds a bit like North Korea, does it not? Why does a mostly white male administration need to target specific communities? Trump is the least Christian president ever; sleeping with a porn star while your wife is pregnant is not found in the New Testament. — Neil Reilly, 57, Sacramento, California
Daily Mirror
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
JoJo Siwa shares poignant 'self-reflection' post as she addresses her sexuality
Celebrity Big Brother star JoJo Siwa has used the start of Pride Month to share a personal reflection on identity, love, and self-acceptance JoJo Siwa opened Pride Month 2025 with a heartfelt post to her followers, offering a message of love and self-acceptance amid her new romance with Chris Hughes. 'Happy day 1 of the happiest month,' the 22-year-old wrote on Instagram Stories. 'What I have learned over the last 22 years is that pride is all about love, acceptance and celebration. No matter who you are or what you are, you are you, you are beautiful, and you are perfect. Everyone's story is different and everyone's journey is different.' Calling love 'just love,' Siwa praised its simplicity and added: 'Happy pride to the beautiful LGBTQIA+ community, to the allies, and to all that exist :).' Earlier this year, the former child star made headlines when she began dating Celebrity Big Brother UK co-star Chris, 32. During the show's 24th season, she shared a personal revelation: 'I've always told myself I'm a lesbian, but I think being here, I've realised: 'Oh no, I'm not a lesbian, I'm queer.' I think that's really cool. I'm switching letters.' She later told Us Weekly she hadn't expected that moment to air: 'That was one of those conversations actually that I was having that I was like, 'This will never see the light of day.' I don't mind that it did, because I actually think it starts a very beautiful conversation of queer. I think queer joy is so special and so magical.' Explaining her evolving understanding of identity, Siwa said she's no longer interested in strict labels: 'Queer is a beautiful umbrella term for the LGBTQIA community. I think that for me to be a woman and say I have a non-binary partner, but then also say I'm a lesbian is crazy. I just realized within myself that the way my eyes are to the world, I think I'm just queer. "It has nothing to do with anything besides that. It's nothing to be ashamed of. The world is going crazy with that one though. It flabbergasts me.' Prior to her relationship with Hughes, Siwa briefly dated Australian creator Kath Ebbs, who is non-binary. Their split reportedly happened during the Big Brother wrap party in April. Siwa has also been outspoken about the discomfort she feels with certain language. After telling Yahoo! Life in 2022 that she 'doesn't like the word 'lesbian,'' she clarified on TikTok: 'I never said that 'lesbian' was a dirty word. It's not a bad word, it's not a slur, it's especially not a word that I am ashamed of saying or ashamed of identifying as by any means.' In that interview, she compared the term to words people find unappealing simply by sound: 'I don't like the word itself. It's just like a lot... It's like the word moist. It's just like… ugh!' She added on TikTok, 'I don't hate the word lesbian… it's not the word that flows off the tongue for me, if that makes sense.'
