Book Displays: June ~ LGBTQ+ Pride

Rainbow Book Month™ is a nationwide celebration of the authors and writings that reflect the lives and experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, and asexual community. As of 2020, GLBT Book Month™ (celebrated by the American Library Association since 2015) has been renamed Rainbow Book Month™, in coordination with the Rainbow Round Table's name change in 2019. Originally established in the early 1990s by The Publishing Triangle as National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, this occasion is an opportunity for book lovers and libraries [to celebrate] with the very best in LGBTQIA+ literature.

The Stonewall Inn, a bar located in Greenwich Village, New York City, was the scene of events that began the modern struggle for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. Before the 1960s almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) person was illegal. New York City laws against homosexual activities were particularly harsh. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGBT civil rights and provided momentum for a movement. On June 24, 2016 President Obama designated the site of the Stonewall uprising and birthplace of the modern LGBT civil rights movement the “Stonewall National Monument.” This new monument is a testament to the diversity, inclusiveness, and individual freedom that make America great. It is the first national park focused on LGBT history.

AIRED APRIL 25, 2011 - When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world.