We are starting the LGBT Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall Riots (1959). It has rained a lot since that June 51 years ago when a group of transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual people rebelled against the police fighting for their rights, inexistent at that time. Fortunately, the situation has changed for the better: in 2011 the UN National Assembly approved the first Human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity resolution, and the difference between sex and gender is not and up to date, 29 different countries recognise same-sex marriage. Therefore, do we still need to celebrate/commemorate/revindicate LGBT Pride? Yes, yes and one thousand times yes. Why? Here I give you only 10 reasons, but it would not be difficult finding 100 more.
1) Only 11 countries recognise non-binary gender in their passports: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Malta, New Zealand, Pakistan, India and Nepal (https://www.enei.org.uk/resources/news/gender-x-passports/)
2) 12 countries prescribe the death penalty for homosexuality: Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
3) In the UK, all men must wait 3 months after having oral or anal sex with another man before donating blood
4) According to a report by the Institute of Physics, Royal Astronomical Society and Royal Society of Chemistry (https://www.rsc.org/globalassets/04-campaigning-outreach/campaigning/lgbt-report/lgbt-report_web.pdf), 28% of LGBT+ respondents have had at some point considered leaving their workplace because of the climate or discrimination towards LGBT+ people
5) Between 2014-15 and 2018-19, the number of recorded hate crimes based on sexual orientation across England and Wales went up from 5,591 to 14,491 – a rise of 160% (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-51049336)
6) Gender-inclusive toilets are quite rare to see in most of pubs and bars in the UK
7) There is an absence of positive attitudes toward bisexual men and women in the general U.S. population (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5082634/)
8) U.S. high school students who self-identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) report having been bullied on school property (33%) and cyberbullied (27.1%) in the past year, than their heterosexual peers (17.1% and 13.3%, respectively) (https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/lgbtq)
9) Only two European countries (Germany and Malta) have a ban on conversion therapy
10) Heterosexuality is still presupposed in most social contexts
