Celebrating Pride: A Journey Through LGBTQ+ History and Resources in Harris County
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as "Gay Pride Day," but the actual day was flexible. The government first recognized the month as “Gay and Lesbian” Pride Month in 1999 by President Bill Clinton. Later, President's Barack Obama and Joe Biden broadened the scope of the month, including “Bisexual, Transgender, Queer” and “+”.
In Harris County, Pride has been important for many years. The Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus was founded in 1975, becoming the oldest LGBT civil institution in the south, and organized the first Pride Parade in Houston in 1976. 1998, Annise Parker was elected to the City Council, becoming the first lesbian official to serve in Houston. She later became the first lesbian mayor of a major city, serving three terms from 2009 to 2016. In 2015, the Houston Pride Parade moved downtown, creating record attendance due to the legalization of same-sex marriage. This year, the Harris County Attorney’s Office will participate with a float in the Pride Parade on June 29th.
The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library provides many resources for the LGBTQ+ community. This June, the library is featuring its LGBTQ Resource Guide. The LGBTQ+ Resource Guide is organized by topics about all LGBTQ legal issues, like family law, estate planning, adoption, and healthcare. The library also has a virtual reference desk, allowing patrons to access all the guides online. The Law Library has partnerships with the Stonewall Law Association of Greater Houston and the Houston Bar Association LGBTQ section to provide helpful guides to patrons looking for information. The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library is a place for anyone to find education on this topic, plus many others.
The Harris County Robert W. Hainsworth Law Library LGBTQ+ Resource Guide can be found here.
Additional resources can be found here:
https://lgbtq.visithoustontexas.com/community/houstons-lgbt-history/#:~:text=1978,work%20toward%20a%20common%20goal.
https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/
Written by Jody Taller, HCAO Communications & Public Affairs intern.