pride history

How much do you actually know about the rainbow flag?

You go to the parade, but how much do you know about the history behind it?

Phoenix Pride celebrates and promotes the history, diversity and future prosperity of the metropolitan Phoenix LGBTQ community. The city has already begun its 10 Days of Pride celebration, but you can jump into the action this weekend. Start on Friday with the National Day of Silence, then hit the Pride Kick-Off Party. You can also celebrate in the streets on Saturday with the Gay Pride Parade, featuring Lynda Carter—the actress made famous as the face of Wonder Woman in the 1970s TV series—among other amazing participants. Add in two festival days and you've got an amazing start to the 2011 Gay Pride season! Plus, Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey (Uh Huh Her) will be performing!

LGBT History Month in my home city of Norwich, England consisted of a weeks-long celebration of music, poetry, art, radio performances and lectures by prominent LGBT activists amongst other things. It was my first year of being part of a collective known as Pride Punk Picnic, the alternative, rebellious, kid sister of the official Norwich Pride. Celebrating our history shows that much headway has been made in the fight for equality, yet we still have a long way to go. Our collective decided an event called Underground: Norwich Against Homophobia would be a great way to do just that. As a member of Pride Punk and Dandelion and the Rockets -- one of the bands performing at Underground -- I found the reactions we received when promoting the event were both encouraging and disheartening.