Every year, the entire month of June is dedicated to Pride in many countries around the world, celebrating LGBTQ+ identity and raising awareness of the social and political inequalities surrounding sexuality.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pride Month 2020 will see a distinct lack of crowd activity. After decades of steady growth, Pride parades now draw in crowds of more than a million; this year, none will go ahead. However, this will not stop the team at Green Motion from celebrating and supporting Pride.
June is Pride Month because it coincides with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots.
That year, in the early hours of June 28th, eight police officers in New York raided the Stonewall Inn - a gay bar in Greenwich Village.
There was nothing particularly exceptional about this. In the sixties, the NYPD enforced all “vice” laws and had the power to arrest and hospitalise gay people by force.
But on this particular night, the bar fought back. Neighbouring revellers were drawn to the scene, hundreds resisted prejudiced arrest, and a mirror was smashed by “the shot glass that was heard around the world”, thrown by Black transgender activist Martha P. Johnson.
This week the Green Motion International team have once again donated to the Stonewall Charity in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1989 by a small group of people who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act, Stonewall is renowned for its campaigning and lobbying.
Stonewall has put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales.
Some major Stonewall successes include helping achieve the equalisation of the age of consent, lifting the ban on LGB people serving in the military, securing legislation which allowed same-sex couples to adopt and the repeal of Section 28. More recently, Stonewall has helped secure civil partnerships and then same-sex marriage and ensured that the recent Equality Act protected lesbian, gay and bi people in terms of goods and services.
On 23 September 2003, Stonewall was granted charitable status.
Green Motion CEO Richard Lowden said, "The entire ethos and culture of the Green Motion franchise family celebrates and embraces diversity and inclusivity, and Pride month gives us an excellent opportunity to show our solidarity and support of the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately this year we aren't able to participate in Pride parades, but we still show our support through donating to the Stonewall charity as well as changing our logo as a visible mark of our support."
To find out more about pride month, or donate to Stonewall, visit stonewall.org.uk