BE stands with the LGBTQ+ community in celebrating 2023 PRIDE Month

The inclusion of LGBTQ+ children and youth in education is part of our commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind.

Pride Month commemorates the June 1969 Stonewall Riots, which catalyzed the LGBTQ rights movement in New York City's Greenwich Village at the Stonewall Inn. The Stonewall Inn was a popular gathering place for young members of the LGBTQ community, and LGBTQ+ customers resisted police raids on their bar.

The Stonewall Riots gave new impetus to the "Gay Liberation" movement around the globe. The first Pride event was organized by Brenda Howard, a bisexual activist, in New York City on June 28, 1970. The first march was called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, named after the road where the Stonewall Inn is located, and the event had both celebratory and protest elements. Howard organized another event the following year in 1971, and soon Pride parades were established all over the world.

In the Philippines, the first-ever Pride March was held on June 26, 1994, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. The march was the first pride march in Asia and was organized by the Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (PROGAY Philippines) and the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) Manila.