Pride Month
This month focuses on LGBT Pride Month, Pride month Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month). Pride is celebrated annually in June to honour the 1969 Stonewall riots, and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) people.
Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts. LGBT Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognise the impact that LGBTQ individuals have had on history – locally, nationally and internationally.
Get involved…
You can join the LGBTQI+ student society or our LGBTQIA+ staff network.
We invite you to take part in our Pride parade and events – watch this space for more.
Key dates in June
Pentecost – this Christian festival celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, and is held on the seventh Sunday after Easter.
Shavuot is a major Jewish festival held on the 6th (and usually the 7th) of Sivan, fifty days after the second day of Passover. It was originally a harvest festival, but now also commemorates the giving of the Law (the Torah).
National Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.
It takes place in mid-June every year.
Global Wellness Day is an entirely not-for-profit day, a social project dedicated to living well. The purpose of Global Wellness Day is to ask the question, even if for just one day, “How can I live a healthier and better life?”, to direct the thoughts of both individuals and society towards “living well” and to raise awareness.
The main aims of the day are:
- To recognise the value of our lives
- To pause and think, even if for just one day of the year
- To be free from the stress of everyday city life and bad habits
- To make peace with ourselves
- To raise awareness about living well and increase motivation, not just for today, but for the remaining 364 days of the year
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Corpus Christi – A feast of the Western Christian Church commemorating the institution of the Eucharist, observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday.
Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev – this is a special holiday declared to reminisce about the sacrifice that Guru Arjan made for the Sikh people. The Sikhs observe the martyrdom of the Sikh Guru Arjan each year on 16 June. Guru Arjan was the fifth great leader of the Sikh religion.
Father's Day is a holiday of honouring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society.
Father's Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June.
World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Summer Solstice celebrates the nourishing light of the sun and the light when it is one of the two moments during the year when the path of the sun in the sky is farthest north in the Northern Hemisphere (20 or 21 June) or farthest south in the Southern Hemisphere (21 or 22 December).
Windrush Day honours the British Caribbean community, and the half-a-million people who travelled to the UK after the Second World War. The first Windrush Day was held on 22 June 2018. It is a time to support the Windrush Generation, and show sympathy with the hardships they have endured.
Sacred Heart, also called Sacred Heart of Jesus, in Roman Catholicism, explores the mystical-physical heart of Jesus as an object of devotion. In addition to a feast, now celebrated on the Friday of the third week after Pentecost, devotion includes acts of consecration and honour given to the image of the Sacred Heart.
Saint John the Baptist Day involves traditions such as burning broken furniture, sacramentals and holy things. If a priest is available, he can bless the fields and go through them with a torch from the fire.
Anniversary of Stonewall riots – On this day 50 years ago, an uprising took place at the Stonewall Inn in New York City. As it was raided by the police in the early hours, three nights of unrest followed, with LGBT people, long frustrated by police brutality, finally fighting back. Lesbians and trans women of colour were some of the key people involved in the act of resistance, including Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. This anniversary is a reminder of the power of standing together in defiance of those who seek to divide them.
Race Unity Day aims to promote harmony among different races. It is a day that reminds us that regardless of our race, we can all live and co-exist as one.
World Day against Child Labour is an International Labour Organization-sanctioned holiday that was first launched in 2002, aiming to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour.
World Environment Day is the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.
HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day is a day that honours long-term survivors of the HIV epidemic and raises awareness of their needs, issues and journeys.
This is not an exhaustive list; please complete our inclusion calendar form if you'd like us to add your event or if there is anything missing from our dates.
This calendar is managed by the Centre for Equity and Inclusion and the Inclusive Calendar Stakeholders (ICS). The ICS group meets every month to discuss the month of events ahead, enhancement of the process and the calendar.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at equity@londonmet.ac.uk