গর্বের মাস সম্পর্কে ১০টি তথ্য
History of Pride
All modern Pride and LGBTQ+ celebrations around the world trace their roots back to the Stonewall Riots, which took place in New York City on 28 June, 1969. Following a violent police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar located in Greenwich Village, gay and lesbian activists organised and demanded that homosexuality be decriminalised throughout the USA. The Stonewall Riots lasted six days, but they did succeed in changing public perception. In 2016, the Stonewall Inn was designated as a national monument.
On 28 June, 1970, exactly one year after the riots, the first Gay Pride marches took place in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. This first march was called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March and was very different to the Pride marches you see today. This march was a political protest and there were no floats or music. In 1999, US President Bill Clinton formally declared June to be Gay & Lesbian Pride Month. In 2011, President Obama expanded this to include the entire LGBTQ+ community, and June has since been adopted around the world as Pride Month.
Stonewall UK is now a charity supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and issues throughout the UK.
Pride Month in the UK
Pride in the UK is celebrated each June, but we also celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month in February. They seem very similar, but have you ever wondered what the difference is? At their heart, both events are centred on the experience, challenges and acceptance of those who identify as LGBTQ+ individuals.
Pride was an organisation that grew from protest and demanded change. Pride Month concerns itself with the present and future challenges facing a range of sexual identities. In that sense, it is a forward-looking organisation, considering where we are now and where we can go.
LGBTQ+ History Month
LGBTQ+ History Month is celebrated in February in the UK to coincide with the abolition of Section 28, a law which prohibited local authorities from ‘promoting’ homosexuality in schools. Section 28 was repealed in February 2003 and has been the focal point for LGBTQ+ History Month ever since. This makes LGBTQ+ History Month more concerned with the past and remembering the injustices that have occurred so that we can avoid repeating them in the future.
Top Ten Facts About UK Pride and LGBTQ+ History
1. London Pride
লন্ডন প্রাইড is the UK’s biggest LGBTQ+ festival, with 2026 set to be the biggest yet. The Army Cadets attend Pride each year to take part in the parade alongside the other armed forces.
2. First UK Pride Festival
The first UK Pride Festival took place on 1 July 1972 in London. The date chosen was the closest Saturday to the date of the Stonewall Riots which occurred on 28 June 1968. An estimated 2,000 people attended the first Pride.
3. 2023 London Pride
Organisers of the 2025 London Pride Festival estimated that around 500 organisations were involved, and around 30,000 people took part in putting on the show.
4. 1967 Sexual Offences Act
In England and Wales, homosexual acts between men aged over 21 were decriminalised in the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, followed by Scotland in 1980 and Northern Ireland in 1982. This was equalised with the heterosexual age of consent to 16 in 2001. UK law has never considered female homosexuality a civilian offence. This only applied to men!
5. The Pride Flag
The familiar Rainbow Flag was created in 1978 by volunteers in San Francisco. The first flags were hand-made by dyeing and sewing fabrics. The most popular version of today’s flag contains six colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The original flag concept had eight colours, including pink and turquoise, but these were later removed. Pink was not readily available in 1978, and blue replaced indigo and turquoise.
6. Alan Turing
Did you know Alan Turing, the computer genius who led the project to decode the German Enigma machines in the Second World War, was gay? Alan Turing’s work made a vital contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany, and he has become one of the most influential LGBTQ+ figures in British history.
7. Gender Recognition Act
The Gender Recognition Act is a UK law which allows people to change their legal gender. It was passed in 2004 with strong, but not unanimous, support. In the House of Lords, it passed with 155 votes in favour and 57 against. In the House of Commons, it passed with 355 votes in favour and 46 votes against.
8. UK Marriage Equality
The UK recognised same-sex civil partnerships in 2004. Surprisingly, opposite-sex civil partnerships were not permitted at this time. Civil partnerships were a stepping-stone to full marriage equality. The law permitting same-sex marriage came into effect in 2014, and civil partnerships for opposite-sex couples have been available since 2019 in England and Wales.
9. UK Population Statistics
দ্য Office of National Statistics reported in the 2021 census that 3.2% of the population, around 1.5 million people, identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or ‘other sexual orientation’.
10. Manchester’s Sparkle Weekend
Manchester’s Sparkle Weekend is the world’s largest free-to-attend celebration of gender diversity and is inclusive of trans and gender diverse individuals as well as friends, partners and allies of all kinds. The first Sparkle Weekend took place in 2005, and in 2025 over 10,000 people attended.
Diversity in the Army Cadets
The principles of বৈচিত্র্য এবং অন্তর্ভুক্তি touch all areas of the Army Cadets, and we take our responsibilities seriously. In 2025, our National Diversity & Inclusivity Adviser, Lt Colonel Rachel Diss won the Defence Inclusivity Award at the Soldiering On Awards. This highlights over 15 years of Rachel’s dedication to our young people, a devotion that can be observed throughout our organisation.
আর্মি ক্যাডেটদের সাথে আরও এগিয়ে যান
This includes our vital প্রাপ্তবয়স্ক স্বেচ্ছাসেবক as well as new cadets. If you want to be part of a team with diverse skills, backgrounds, and experiences, একটি বিচ্ছিন্নতা খুঁজে বের করুন near you today.