How to Celebrate Pride Month in 2021

There’s still a long way to go to empowering the LGBTQ community. By understanding history, we can make better choices, policies, and programs that help us be better LGBTQ allies. We spoke with Jenni White, the executive director of Trinity Haven, a residential facility created specifically for LGBTQ youth and young adults.

“Pride Month is important because it is a time to learn about the history of LGBTQ people, acknowledge the harms done, elevate the conversation to effect change for the better, and celebrate everything about our community, culture, and connection as human beings,” she told Mom.com. White pointed out that many kids in this community are still being kicked out of their homes with 40% of all youth experiencing homelessness being part of the LGBTQ community.

Due to the continued restrictions of the pandemic, it might be best to celebrate gay pride at home this year with activities that promote acceptance and understanding while staying safe. A celebration in your home will look different depending on whether or not you have a LGBTQ youth in your house.

If you do, this is an opportunity to embrace them. “Vocalize your love and support,” Sofie Parker, a mom of a transgender child told Mom.com. “Get your kids to talk.”

You may think that you are supportive, but nothing is as effective as letting your child know they are loved for who they are. Be open minded to what they are going through and create a safe space where they can communicate their feelings with you.

For those who don’t have a LGBTQ child, you can help foster acceptance of everyone with some activities that open up conversations. These include:

• Art projects with rainbows or baking a rainbow cake.
• Make posters and hang flags at your home in support of those in the LGBTQ community.
• Read books or watch movies with LGBTQ themes along with your kids and have a discussion afterward.

Thanks to the pandemic, there will be a lot of virtual events that you can attend.

If you’re looking for specific activities to do with your child for Pride Month, take a look at this list of activities.

Keep in mind that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to recommend avoiding large events and gatherings due to COVID and the many people that are still not vaccinated. If you do attend in-person events, continue to follow current COVID protocols: Make sure you and your family are wearing masks and practice social distancing.

• NYC Pride March: On June 27th, New Your City will have its annual pride march with a host of other activities to celebrate. Not in New York to participate? Join Pride Island, part of the day’s activities that will be launched remotely.
• How Life Is: Queer Youth Animated: This is a special 10-episode project that covers the challenges that LGBTQIA+ youth navigate. It hits topics such as coming out, blended families, relationships, peer acceptance, homophobia, and more. You can find it on YouTube and IGTV and produced by The Future Perfect Project.
• Atlanta Pride Run: An event designed to do more than raise awareness, it fundraises to support community partners who support the LGBTQ community. The Pride Run is happening June 20th, starting at 5 a.m.
• Chicago is a Drag Fest: Hosted on June 28th to celebrate the Chicago drag community. This event celebrates 50 years of Chicago Pride and other LGBTQ milestones and will have performances from Chicago’s top kings and queens.
• Virtual Gay Pride Film Festival: This five-week event showcases works made by LGBTQ filmmakers. There are documentaries, feature films, and web series for all ages. Part of the proceeds benefit LGBTQ+ nonprofits. The cost is $7.

If you don’t live near a major city, you can check local community events for local marches, festivals, and concerts that support those in your own area.

At Wild Sky Media, we recognize that not all pregnancies and parenting journeys look the same. That’s why across all our sites — CafeMom, LittleThings, Mom.com, and MamásLatinas — we are committed to using inclusive language as much as possible, recognizing that all forms of parenting are valid and celebrating the shared experiences and unique differences among moms, dads, nonbinary and noncisgender parents, and all forms of caregivers.