Initially, we see pride used in capitalized form and followed by the year in which it occurs. Gay pride was eventually shortened to pride alone, and began to be used as a shorthand for the events of LGBT Pride month, which is held in June. I think it was Martin Luther King-and I don't always agree with him but I must in this case if I'm quoting his words-who said that to him "Black Power" should be interpreted as "Black Pride." In her piece, the author expresses hope for dawning of the day when Negroes shall have more of pride in race and in the customs, habits and achievements of Negroes. Prior to pride being associated with the gay rights movement, it was occasionally found modified by black, especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.Īn interesting article titled, "Black Pride: a Woman speaks for Her Race," appearing in the February issue of the Atlantic Monthly, is authored by Mrs. Homophile Action League (Philadelphia, PA), 26 Dec. Gay pride seems to be catching, York University in Toronto, Canada has an on campus organization, York University Homophile Association. Marty Stephan, Gay Power (New York City, NY), Vol. Gay pride and self-consciousness are valid tools to fight oppression. (Minutes of Meeting) MS Gay Activists Alliance, Īt about the same time there is also evidence of gay pride being used in reference to a collective sense of self-worth, rather than tied to a specific event. Liberation Day the committee will meet in conjunction with the Political Affairs Subcommittee on Gay Pride Week, chaired by Barbara Glover. The Central Park gathering is rescheduled for Sunday, May 31. John Heys, Gay Power (New York City, NY), Vol. Issue 19 reaches the stands on Monday June 29, the day after New York's mass Gay March and Gay In, concluding a week's activities on Gay pride and liberation. Pride is frequently found, modified by gay, in early texts referring to these events.
In June of the following year marches commemorating Stonewall were held in Los Angeles and New York City.
One of the more recent shifts in the word is concerned with the modern gay rights movement, which, if it may be said to have originated with any one event, is tied to the riot that occurred at the Stonewall Inn in New York City on June 28th, 1969, in which some 400 people protested the police raid of that establishment. "His overweening pride in his hair left me feeling unwell"). Pride may still switch easily between positive and negative connotations as is the case with many other polysemous words, it is generally easy to tell which meaning is intended, based on context ("We took great pride in our daughter's honesty" vs.
The use of pride to refer to a reasonable form of self-respect began to appear in the 14th century, and the word has taken on a number of other shades of meaning since then. In its original sense, pride was hardly something to be proud of, as it carried the meaning of "inordinate self-esteem" and "an unreasonable conceit of superiority." In early use pride was also often found in capitalized form, referring to one of the seven deadly sins. The noun form of pride precedes the verb, although both are quite old (the verb has been in use since the 13th century, and the noun since Old English).