June is LGBT Pride Month, a time when LGBTQI+ community members, family, friends and advocates acknowledge and celebrate the gift of diversity that is unique to each of us. Many municipalities host “Pride parades” where LGBTQI+ community members outwardly profess their ability to live freely and openly as their true authentic selves. This is a time to acknowledge the many accomplishments of LGBTQI+ members, both past and present, as well as the strides in our current social/political arenas.

June is time set aside to celebrate not only lesbian, gay, bi/pansexual, transgender, gender non-binary/non-conforming, intersex, two spirit and many other sexual and gender identities, but the diversity of life and living itself. LGBTQI+ Pride is not about waiving multi-colored flags or articles of clothing. It is a time to remember those brave individuals who often risked their lives, families, identities, reputations and their jobs just to be able to live as their true, authentic selves.

Participating in LGBTQI+ pride allows us to come together, to build community with others who share our common beliefs that human sexuality and gender identity exist on a fluid continuum of possibilities rather on only two fixed standard points of self-identification.

Pride celebrations are a way to honor those who came before us, who fought for the right to express their love toward another person on their own terms and not what society dictates as being acceptable or “proper.” It allows us to show our young people that they are perfect just as they are.

We often celebrate, correctly or not, what we believe the day means to us without fully knowing how the event started or by whom. During much the 1960s and early 1970s, being anything other than cis-gender and heterosexual was very problematic and certainly not safe. People considered gay, lesbian, transvestites or drag queens were often harassed and assaulted in their local communities, especially by law enforcement. Being in a same-sex relationship was considered immoral and engaging in “lewd” conduct. Transvestites and drag queens were required by law to wear at least three items of apparel pertaining to their sex assigned at birth or face further arrest.

On the evening of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. Patrons in the bar fought back for the first time. The riots became so violent, after the police forced patrons out of the building, they had to shelter themselves inside the very establishment they just raided out of fear of their own safety concerns. The crowds outside the Stonewall Inn reportedly grew into the thousands of people, requiring back up from local police precincts for crowd control. After three days of violent protest, LGBTQ community emerged victorious to end the harassment wrought upon them by NYC police.

One year after the riots, residents and patrons of the Stonewall Inn once again took to the streets, this time to march down Christopher Street towards Central Park in solidarity and peace. Police officers who just a year earlier were involved in the riots were now under order to protect the marchers. While the original march began with only a few hundred people, by the time it ended, thousands of people joined the “parade.” Pride parades are now celebrated in cities not only throughout the U.S. but also internationally.

We look the leaders of that time, including Black queer drag queen Marsha P. Johnson, who was instrumental in leading the riots. Johnson was often outspoken as she railed against the injustices what were occurring in NYC queer community at that time. Silvia Rivera, a good friend of Johnson’s, co-founded the Street Transvestite Actions Revolutionaries (STAR), becoming prominent figures in the movement.

Now some 50-plus years later, the LGBTQI+ community is still fighting for our rights in this country and in our state of New York. While much has been done over the past several years, there is still much that needs to be accomplished going forward!

Prior to the previous government administration in Washington, the LGBTQI+ community made significant strides in demanding equal rights protections for our community members in terms of employment, housing, military service, access to health care and legal services. Gone was much of the stigma of coming out as homosexual, bi/pansexual, gender non-binary/non-conforming, transgender or any other letter of the vast LGBQTI+ alphabet soup. For the previous four years, the federal government actively worked to deny LGBTQI+ people access to the most basic human rights and protections. We constantly saw the federal government challenging long-established laws and precedents that directly affect our ability to live and exists in today’s society.

It is refreshing to have the current federal administration affirm, support and defend the LGBTQI+ community in ways not seen in many years. Rights and protections eliminated, not enforced or rolled back previously are now being full granted, and protections are being enforced.

Still pending in Congress is the Equality Act, a bill that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, public education, federal funding, credit and the jury system. Today, 29 states have not passed anti-LGBT discrimination protections for their citizens. The Equality Act seeks to remedy this by applying existing state anti-LGBT discrimination laws nationwide.

These should not not progressive, liberal or conservative issues! This is a basic human rights issue! LGBTQI+ people are naturally created this way prior to birth. We have existed throughout time, history, cultures and civilizations. We exist in the past, the present and will continue well into the future. We only wish to live our truth! Live as our authentic selves!

As I’ve stated so many times in the past, the LGBTQI+ community is not looking for any “more” or “special” rights than anyone else in New York state. We are only DEMANDING the same “equal” rights and protections as currently enjoyed by every other person in this state!

With that in mind, let’s go forward and celebrate — happy LGBTQI+ Pride Month!

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Kelly Metzgar lives in Saranac Lake and is head of the Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance.