Gay Pride

The gay pride or simply pride campaign of the gay rights movement has three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that sexual diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered. Marches celebrating Pride (pride parades) are celebrated worldwide. Symbols of gay pride include the rainbow flag, the Greek lambda symbol, and also the pink and black triangles reclaimed from their past use.

In June 1969, a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. The late Miss Sylvia Rivera, a transgender rights activist and founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance, is credited by many as the first to actually strike back at the police and, in doing so, spark the rebellion.

Within the gay community, some reject the notion of gay pride, perceiving therein an undue emphasis on sexual orientation and a lack of discretion and modesty to the detriment of either public morals or the cause of gay rights; they propose to soften strident activism in order to better integrate into the mainstream.[citation needed] Others oppose gay pride on account of its identity politics; they say that one's sexual orientation should not be one's quintessential defining characteristic. Many gay people who are not heavily liberal believe that they are being excluded and ignored in favor of the identification of gay society with political concepts they do not agree with.

It is not unusual to see small groups of religious fundamentalists protesting at gay pride events. American gays often refer to the more strident protesters as "fundies", short for Fundamentalists.