At Healthworks Group, we strongly believe in equality for ALL and that love is love, with no ifs, ands, or buts. June is dedicated as Pride Month internationally, dating back to the first Pride Parade in 1970, marked by the anniversary of Stonewall Rebellion.
We celebrate, preach and educate about the importance of LGBTQ+ equality and rights all month long and in June for pride month, we shout it from the rooftops!
Boston Pride for the People: June 8
We are excited to parade and celebrate his return Boston Pride for the People Festival & Parade on Saturday June 8. We invite everyone to join us as we meet at Healthworks Back Bay (441 Stuart Street) in the morning at 9am. alliance. The parade starts in Copley Square at 11am.
We will have a limited number of free Healthworks Group Pride t-shirts for anyone who joins us. If you plan to join us and want a t-shirt, fill out this form until May 10 at 13:00. Additional t-shirts will be available for sale.
Important facts in the LGBTQ+ community:
Barbara Gittings – Considered the mother of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, Barbara Gittings was one of the first gay activists. In 1958, Barbara co-founded the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, America’s first lesbian civil rights organization. Her work was also instrumental in persuading the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
Cecilia Chung – Cecilia Chung is a long-time advocate for the transgender community and those living with HIV/AIDS, working to end discrimination and violence faced by her communities. Her life story also inspired a character in the ABC miniseries When We Rise (2017), which chronicled the history of the LGBTQ+ movement from the 1970s-2010s.
Janelle Monáe – Since the early 2010s, Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, Janelle Monáe has put their music to create a safe space and to liberate and empower the LGBTQ+ community. But it wasn’t until an interview with Rolling Stone in 2018 that they felt strong enough to come out to the world as non-binary (Them/Them) and pansexual. Their radical and acclaimed 2018 album Dirty Computer was dedicated to “young girls, young boys, non-binary, gay, straight, [and] queer people struggling to deal with their sexuality.”
Marsha P. Johnson – Marsha P. Johnson, a drag queen and prominent gay liberation activist, is one of the most well-known participants in the Stonewall riots on June 28, 1969. That night, after tensions mounted, the police stormed the gay bar, arresting several people. The patrons resisted and riots broke out, which lasted for six days. After Stonewall, her activism continued – she joined the Gay Liberation Front, ACT UP and co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries.
Madonna –Madonna is widely recognized as gay and a pioneering ally of the LGBTQ+ community. He was an early supporter of transgender awareness and rights, AIDS and HIV awareness, and more. Celebrities including Anderson Cooper, Ellen Degeneres and Rosie O’Donnell have credited Madonna’s influence on their own journeys.
Maura Healey – Maura Healey currently serves as the 73rd governor of Massachusetts and the state’s first female governor. Governor Healey is also the nation’s first openly lesbian governor and remains committed to fighting and speaking out against anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers in other states across the country.
Megan Rapinoe – Megan Rapinoe was one of the first openly gay players on the US Women’s National Team, who put her in the spotlight as an LGBTQ+ activist. She fought for equal pay in women’s soccer and participated in a lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation and is an outspoken advocate for transgender inclusion in sports. In 2022, President Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to LGBTQ+ equality and equality in women’s sports.
Stormé DeLarverie – Rumored to have thrown the first punch in the Stonewall Uprising, Stormé DeLarverie spent her life fighting “ugliness” — her word for any kind of discrimination. Calling herself the “Village Lesbian Watcher,” DeLarverie patrolled the streets of Greenwich Village, ensuring the safety of lesbians and children at night.
Watch, listen and read:
Educational Resources:
