Each June, individuals across the United States and around the world come together to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month. While Pride may mean many things to many people, it’s often understood to be a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community’s accomplishments in the face of adversity and discrimination.
The beginning of Pride in the United States is often traced back to the Stonewall riots that occurred in the late 1960s in New York. On June 28, 1969, in Greenwich Village, police conducted a routine raid of the Stonewall Inn. This bar was popular among some of society’s most marginalized groups, including many members of the LGBTQ+ community. While raids were common at this time, unlike previous raids, the police force did not tip off the bar beforehand and arrived during the packed early morning hours. Officers roughed up patrons, confiscated bootlegged alcohol, and arrested over a dozen people for crimes like violating the state’s gender-appropriate clothing statute.
The bar’s LGBTQ+ patrons, many of whom were runaways and homeless youths, had finally had enough of unjust police aggression and social discrimination. The tipping point is rumoured to have been when an officer hit a lesbian over the head as he forced her into a police vehicle. She shouted at the crowd to act, and soon a full-blown riot with hundreds of participants began. For the next three days, these activists demanded respect and equal rights, galvanizing LGBTQ+ political activism in the public’s conscious.
Since the Stonewall riots fifty years ago, the United States has made progress in addressing the discrimination members of the LGBTQ+ community face. Some states have started offering non-binary gender markers for certain government-issued documents, while the Stonewall National Monument now encompasses the streets and sidewalks that were sites of the 1969 riot. Pride is observed each year in June, celebrating the diversity and plurality of these communities. It also brings visibility to the real issues members of the LGBTQ+ community still face, many of whom are targets of violence and hate. Pride brings awareness to the community and helps to combat that hate.
To celebrate Pride, IA&A is highlighting the diversity among those who have participated in our Exchange Visitor Program. We’re exploring what those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and allies experienced while participating in their exchange programs in the United States. Our intern Felix recently sat down with Lucy, an exchange visitor from the United Kingdom who interned at the digital branding and creative agency Sideways in New York. Keep reading for more on Lucy’s experience in New York and what she learned from her exchange program!
Lucy grew up in a small village outside of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and told Felix that when she worked at one of her local agencies almost all of her coworkers were straight men. Lucy identifies as a straight woman and didn’t think much about it at the time. Over the course of our conversation she walked Felix through the differences between American and English culture, and how this exchange led her to confront her implicit biases.
She recounted at time early in her program when she was asked to create a mood board for the company Aurora Elixirs. As Lucy said, "I created what I thought was a beautiful, mixed, stylized collection of imagery that both encapsulated and elevated the brand.” However, when her supervisor reviewed her work she pointed out that almost all the models were young, slim, white women. That conversation still resonates with her. “That constructive feedback, which is something I also learnt to receive with more grace and act on far more proactively, has stuck with me ever since, and instilled a more inclusive outlook on both my work, my behaviors and my understanding of the world,” she shared. In the same vein, she told us that, “working within a group of almost exclusively women and homosexual men allowed me to witness, understand, and appreciate diversity more than ever.”
Over the course of her internship, Lucy worked with many different luxury hotels, curating content for their social media accounts and helping further define their brands. She and her coworkers always made a point to feature diverse models, like when she designed an ad that featured both a straight and a gay couple instead of sticking to the client’s original, less inclusive request.
After her internship ended, Lucy flew to Los Angeles and took a road trip to the San Francisco Bay area, taking time to reflect on what she’d accomplished in the United States and brainstorm her next steps. In sharing her every move with her growing Instagram audience, she’s refined her storytelling abilities. She’s currently editing these video clips into a short film that’ll serve as a representation of her exchange experience.
Before her exchange program, Lucy knew she had a lot to learn about subjects like race and the LGBTQ+ community. She also admits she still has a lot to learn! In Leeds, it’s commonplace to describe something awkward or odd as “gay.” Over the course of her time in New York, Lucy learned how to be more than just an indifferent bystander. “Since coming back, I’ve noticed a big change in my behavior,” she told us. “When I hear certain words and phrases I’ll say something now. I’ve learned how to be an ally.”