It’s Pride Month 2018! June marks the beginning of countless Pride parades, parties and LGBTQI+ awareness events across America. Although on the other side of the globe, the immense spirit of Pride is spreading across social media with messages of unity and love beaming from our phones from celebrities and artists alike.
Ever since the Stonewall protest back in 1969, the queer community is still fighting for equality and acceptance. It’s a time for spectacular celebration and reflection, so to commemorate this year’s Pride, we’ve scoured the web to share our five top Pride posts from celebrities on social media.
Queer Eye’s Fab Five
Queer Eye joins forces with Spotify for Pride month to share their favourite songs that played an important role in forming and coming to embrace their queer identity. Tan, Antoni, Karamo, Bobby and Jonathan talk about those pivotal singles, albums and artists that boast freedom, equality and empowerment. While some are classic queer anthems, the Fab Five’s overall message of loving your true self with the aid of music somehow turns into a tear-jerker of an Instagram post. Can they do no wrong? #liveatfullvolume
Laverne Cox
OITNB actress and transgender icon Laverne Cox chose to celebrate pride with a #fbf post. The side-by-side photos from 2000 and now show her steady transition to becoming her true self. Cox highlights her past insecurities and her continuing fight for acceptance, from the public and herself. Raw and honest, if there’s a more inspiring Pride post, I’ll be shook.
Sam Smith
All it took was one simple re-tweet from singer-songwriter Sam Smith to show what Pride means to him. On June first, Smith – who identifies as being gender-fluid – took to Twitter to show his humility and gratitude in being a positive role model for young people living in the conflicting binary of sexuality and religion. There’s no rainbow soaked photo to accompany the message, but the simple caption speaks volumes.
Margaret Cho
Comedian and actress Margaret Cho shares a striking photograph of herself for Pride. Cho, who identifies as bisexual, has been a prominent figure of the LGBTQI+ community since the early days of her comedy career. Bending the confines of sexuality and race, Cho’s Pride post captures our hearts for her fearless interpretation of culture and beauty. Plus all the rainbow emojis.
Lea DeLaria
A staple of most Pride parades since the early Eighties, it wouldn’t feel right not to include Lea DeLaria on this list. Another OITNB alum, DeLaria is a fearless, strong advocate for LBTQI+ rights (and its parades) who even graced Oxford Street during this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. For this year’s Pride, DeLaria shared a series of joyous photo’s of her appearance at a Pride parade – hanging out a black convertible with the title “Grand Marshall”. The post also features a thought-provoking opinion piece (in DeLaria’s own words) on how Pride is changing and what should be kept sacred to the queer community. Humour and wit, what more could we want?
What other posts have made you laugh, cry, or inspired from this year’s Pride? Tell us in the comments below.