President Obama has issued a Proclamation designating June 2011 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. He “call[s] upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.”
It’s not clear whether this is a one-off or the start of an annual tradition. (Bill Clinton declared June 2000 as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, but it didn’t stick.) If so, it has precedent. There is, of course, Black History Month, celebrated each February since 1976. May has been Women’s History Month since 1987. Oddly, it has also been Jewish American Heritage Month since 2006. Then there’s National Hispanic Heritage Month, which has run from September 15 to October 15 since 1988. Which runs into National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which has been celebrated in October since 1988. That’s a huge month for recognitions, since Filipino American History Month is also celebrated in October, although not nationally.
For whatever reasons, racial, ethnic, and religious groups have either a heritage or a history; impairments generate awareness; and issues of sexuality and gender elicit pride–unless it’s the mere state of being female and feeling comfortable in that femaleness, in which case it’s merely historical.
