**Some images used may be offensive or triggering.**

June is LGBTQ+ Pride month which is a time to celebrate the community, and have events put together across the United States. Some other parts of the globe also celebrate Pride, but I wanted to answer a question I get about pride in America.

"Why do we celebrate pride?"

In the summer of 1969 on June 28th the Stonewall riots broke out from frustration of police raiding gay establishments. The Stonewall Inn became the center of a protest that lasted for days and reached over one thousand demonstrators participating. On the first anniversary of the protest, the first pride parades took place in California, Illinois, and New York close to the location of Stonewall. June also has an added significance this year as the one year anniversary of the Pulse attack is 12th of this month.

Today pride is a celebration more than it is a protest, but there are still things our community is fighting for and against.

Not only is it extremely difficult in some states for LGBTQ+ parent hopefuls to adopt, but the status of joint adoption or second parent is also hard to obtain in the same states mentioned in the info-graphic above. There are also only four states that require foster parents to go through LGBT cultural competency training which could place an LGBTQ+ youth in a home that's not right for them.

This is a real tweet by a real WBC supporter that I took a screen shot of on my phone. I know that this group is a relatively small religious extremist group, but these groups are actively protesting against the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, disturbing fallen soldiers funerals,and protesting Jewish institutions adorning anti-Semitic signs. These beliefs are not just located in Topeka, Kansas either

In 70 countries it is illegal to commit homosexual acts, and some of them you could possibly face death.

I have heard that I should just be grateful to live in a country where I can just be myself, and not "flaunt" myself at a parade, a drag show, or really anywhere. We celebrate our strides, freedoms, and try to inspire those in oppressive countries to change the way their government sees LGBTQ+ people.

Happy Pride Everyone.