The month of June has called the gay community into the streets of Washington D.C. to celebrate and bring awareness to gay pride. Supporters crowd the streets dressed in rainbows, expressing their love for pride.
The tradition of pride events in Washington, D.C., began around the mid 1970s when a group of activists came together to bring awareness to this growing issue, according to the vapride.org. Ever since the idea of LGBT pride was introduced, Virginia citizens, and people from all around the world, have gathered in the streets of D.C. to show their support for the gay community.
“I think it does impact Virginians’ opinions, but at the same time I know we aren’t a perfect world,” Virginia resident Kalissa Azooz said. “For example, it’s still hard for many LGBT people to join the military without getting some sort of backlash.”
While President Trump was running for president, he said, “As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology,” according to the Washington Post.
Despite the numerous Pride events going on, hate crimes in D.C. increased 17% from 2017 to 2018, according to a study conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. Not only are hate crimes increasing every year in D.C., but they are also ranked number 21 for the most hate crimes in a state, also according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
The American Medical Association wrote that, “fatal anti-trangender violence in the U.S. is on the rise, and most victims were black transgender women,” according to the Washington Post.