Pride: a little word with a lot of meaning behind it.

June is Pride Month, which means the LGBTQIA+ community celebrates and commemorates their struggle for respect and equal treatment. While we often associate this movement today with parades and rainbows, its origins were quite different.

The first known organized event representing what we now know as Pride was Christopher Street Liberation Day, which took place on the last Saturday in June of 1970. A protest march from the West Village neighborhood of New York City and ending with a gathering in Central Park, this event commemorated the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising of 1969, a significant milestone in the resistance against anti-gay laws in the United States.

The phrase “Gay Pride” gained traction throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, with memorable events like the AIDS Memorial Quilt increasing visibility over the years. Today, the term “Pride” itself has evolved to include more people than ever before, and the movement has grown from local protest marches to a nationally recognized event supported by individuals and businesses across the country.

Showing Your Support

Those working in the world of promotional products are in a unique position to support Pride Month, as your customers may be looking for your guidance in finding the best ways to show their support for their group or organization. “We acknowledge the colorful displays of Pride and offer products that align with tradition,” says Rob Crowley, SanMar’s Senior Director of Product, “as well as those that offer a blank slate for unique and interesting decoration techniques to shine.”

With this in mind, SanMar has developed a Pride collection that extends beyond the month of June and enables you to support Pride year-round. These pieces are chosen with purpose and intent to showcase why the Pride movement is so important.

• For the Equality
  The ubiquitous symbol of the Pride movement is the rainbow flag, originally developed in 1978 and evolved over the years as the movement itself has evolved. Each color in the flag has a specific meaning, as a whole representing the diversity and hope of the movement. SanMar’s Pride collection showcases every color of the rainbow, enabling you to show your support loud and proud.
• For the Activism
  While it is a celebratory time, never forget that Pride is first and foremost a movement of activism, and the struggle continues to this day. By participating in Pride-focused events like marches, parades, rallies and organized runs, supporters raise both money and awareness for the cause. The tees, tanks, hats, joggers and shorts in the Pride collection emphasize the active nature of the work being done.
• For the Things We Carry
  It may seem like a little thing, but those who support the Pride movement carry with us both the memories and hopes of those we care about and the essentials we need for doing the work. The Pride collection includes hip packs and cinch bags to address the practical needs of keeping what you need close, while keeping our hands free to hold onto one another.

What does Pride mean to you? Whether you belong to one of the groups of people the movement seeks to elevate, whether you have someone in your life who is part of it, or whether you have a customer who wants to show their support and is looking to you for help, Pride touches all of our lives in some way.

By representing Pride we take pride, and we help others do the same. We do this with hope in our hearts, because we believe that celebrating love in all its many forms is always in style.