Happy Pride Month, friends! Assuming you are reading this in June… and, if not, put pride month on your calendar and prepare for that magical time of year to come back around!

Today, I want to “chat” with you all a little bit about Pride–what it is, where it comes from, and why it’s so important to have in arguably the best genre out there–YA Lit. I also say “chat” in quotations because, you know… this is a blog post, so it’s kind of just going to be me telling you all of this stuff. That’s just how blogging works, though, isn’t it?

A Short History of Pride Month

Here’s something that I actually didn’t know until I asked Google… Pride Month was “sort of” founded in 1969. Which, for some of us, sounds like decades and decades ago… and, for others, we just know it as the year someone’s father got suspended from high school for taking the handles off of every manual pencil sharpener in the building… not saying whose father, of course, but I think I may share some bits of DNA with them…

Anywho, Pride Month stems indirectly from the Stonewall riots, which where days on days of riots in New York City’s West Village in protest of police raids of LGBTQ-centered establishments. The riots famously started on June 28, and so marches were held on the same streets as the riots on that same day the next year to commemorate the events. 

Year after year, people came to hold a march on June 28th, and these marches began to take place in more cities across the U.S., like San Francisco and Chicago. Eventually, this led to the creation of the entire Pride Month, and the first known mentioning of the term comes from a Pennsylvania newspaper article from 1972. In it, activist Byrna Aronson says, “We call it Gay Pride week and Gay Pride Month, the whole month of June.” (Thanks for the info, NBC News!)

So… What Is Pride?

While Pride Month gives us a whole schedule full of Pride parades and marches all over the world… well, Pride is actually about a lot more than just rainbow flags. Although… the flag is a pretty powerful symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, and it has a history all its own, but that’s a discussion for, perhaps, another day.

First of all, Pride is all about celebrating the identities of the people under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. This includes all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people plus their allies and anyone else who identifies with the community (for example, pansexual people and similar identities are included with the “+” symbol).

I think it’s also useful to define the word “pride” when we think about what defines LGBTQ+ Pride. For example, one dictionary definition I really like is, “the quality or state of being proud: such as… reasonable self-esteem : confidence and satisfaction in oneself…” (And thanks to Merriam-Webster for that one!)

Simply put, Pride is all about confidence and self-respect. Within the LGBTQ+ community, this also means respecting others, especially when it comes to others’ identities.

Pride in YA Lit

As a YA Lit author myself, I actually get really passionate when talking about Pride themes in teen fiction and young adult literature. Because… it’s so important.

Here’s why.

Pride Can Be Represented in Literature

Books have, for as long as books have been written, always represented real life in some way or form. I mean… hey, that’s how art works, and literature is just another type of art!

For example, dystopian novels have long been considered to be a representation of our own culture, even if the novels exaggerate certain aspects of culture. Remember reading “1984” in school (and, if you’re still in school, get ready to eventually have to read and write a 9-page report on it)… Big Brother is always watching you!

While there will inevitably be people who want to deny it, Pride is a majorly integrated part of our culture today. Aside from the marches in June, Pride-centered groups, events, clubs, and even TV shows are everywhere (including all of the in-person and virtual drag shows, of course!)

In literature, Pride themes can come up in just about any way you can think of since, after all, writing is a creative form. However, I’m just going to make a quick list here of a few popular ways these themes may occur in a YA book…

• With focus on a transgender character
• With mentions of a historic LGBTQ+ event (like Stonewall)
• With use of minor characters part of the LGBTQ+ community
• With focus on an LGBTQ-friendly setting (think “gay bars”)
• With character reflections on being a member of the LGBTQ+ community
• With focus on a same-sex wedding (as I actually have done in my own YA Emma Lenford series… just saying!)

Pride-Themed Books Spark Social Change

Just as literature and art has always represented culture over decades and centuries… literature and art has always shaped changes in culture.

Think of the American Civil Rights Movement, which took place in the 1950s and 1960s. One fiction novel that played a role in that movement was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (also a popularly read book in school classrooms…). With this book, Lee showed all of her readers the truth behind racial injustice in the American South, and she helped spark major social change in a large society.

Today, Pride is seen as a similar social movement as politicians in the U.S. and other countries decide what rights LGBTQ+ people deserve to have. Today, books that deal in themes involving Pride are an important part of making positive changes for our LGBTQ+ communities.

Of course, Pride themes are important to include in all genres of literature, but I think they are most important in YA Lit. After all, us young adults and teens are the future generations that will live in our culture, and, historically, young people are the ones who push the most for social justice around the world. So… no pressure to fellow YA authors, but we’ve gotta speak to the young masses in the best ways possible here!

LGBTQ+ Young Adults Need LGBTQ+ YA Books

Let’s face it… many of us start figuring out who we are as teens and young adults, and those who are finding out they are part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum need LGBTQ+ books to read. By reading books with Pride themes, young people can learn about what it means or may feel like to be part of the Pride community, and there is never any harm in letting them learn about the community for themselves.

Of course, the controversy of letting young people think for themselves has also created waves of book bans in lots of places. Which… honestly, is never fun for authors to deal with, but, in truth, banning books usually just gets those “banned” books more publicity, and then young adults will just want to read them more.

When young adults do have access to YA books with Pride themes, though, they get the chance to feel more represented, included, and, most importantly, proud. Which is what Pride is all about, isn’t it?

It’s also worth mentioning, I think, that young adults and teens are often vulnerable in terms of self-esteem. Remember, us young people are usually still figuring out who we are, and we are receptive of new ideas, both the “good” and the “bad”. That makes it all the more important to see positive representations of LGBTQ+ people and themes in the books we read–because LGBTQ+ youth don’t deserve to feel negatively targeted for who they are.

So, if you’re looking for some reading recommendations in terms of Pride literature… well, the best place to start is your local library and bookstores, especially those that have a Pride-themed display for the month of June (or just because, if it’s not June for you right now)! I’ve also reviewed some LGBTQ+ books on my blog here, like Hot Dog Girl (one of my recent favorites).

Now, let’s go read some Pride-themed YA Lit!

–Kari 🌈