CONTENT WARNING – The following article includes images and descriptions of hateful events that may be offensive to some readers.
Pride Month 2024 has come to an end, bringing with it highs and lows. On the upside, dozens of small towns from Alaska to Alabama held inaugural Pride events this June. Tens of thousands of attendees flocked to these celebrations focused on uplifting their local LGBTQ community.
On the downside, bigots and extremists continued their campaign against Pride events, with GLAAD recording 110 anti-LGBTQ incidents during June 2024. Despite their intent to inspire fear and force the LGBTQ community into the shadows, these numbers are down almost 25% from Pride 2023 – reflecting a growing climate of acceptance for LGBTQ people in the US.
“Organizing our county’s first public Pride festival for our community gifted me with a deep understanding of what Pride means to me. We expected a couple hundred people to attend the festival and had over 3,000,” said Van Knapp, co-organizer of Canyon County Pride held in Nampa, Idaho. “The community showed how they truly feel about the LGBTQIA+ population, and it was much different than the loud voices that we were used to hearing. Idaho is ready to become more accepting, and our event really proved that.”
Map of Cities Holding Their First Pride Events in June 2024
Full list of cities: Prattville, Alabama; Seward, Alaska; Little Rock, Arkansas; Fremont, California; Mission Viejo, California; Bunnell, Florida; Topeka, Kansas; Henderson, Kentucky; Nampa, Idaho; Park Ridge, Illinois; Rockford, Illinois; Whiting, Indiana; Mandeville, Louisiana; Garrett County, Maryland; Concord, Massachusetts; Hastings, Michigan; Warren, Michigan; Grand Rapids, Minnesota; South St. Paul, Minnesota; Haywood, North Carolina; Hermiston, Oregon; Lake Oswego, Oregon; Ross Township, Pennsylvania; Fort Bend County, Texas; Park City, Utah; Woodstock, Vermont; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
Anti-LGBTQ Incidents During Pride 2024
The increased visibility of the LGBTQ community can come at a cost. As more small towns openly celebrate Pride and more LGBTQ folks embrace their identities nationwide, bigots and extremists have been emboldened in their hate. In June 2024, GLAAD documented 110 anti-LGBTQ incidents, including 54 cases of vandalism; 8 bomb threats; 4 assaults; and 3 cases of arson. The following sections detail some of these incidents.
Assaults:
- On June 1, 2024, a bisexual teenager was attacked by a group yelling homophobic slurs after he left a bar in South Fort Myers, Florida. The group repeatedly stepped on and punched the teen, causing a brain bleed and multiple other injuries.
- On June 11, 2024, an individual reportedly assaulted a man while yelling homophobic slurs from his vehicle while in Rochester, New York. The attacker allegedly accelerated towards the victim, causing him to jump out of the way. He then got out of the car and followed the victim into his work, proceeding to punch him multiple times while yelling anti-gay slurs.
Bomb Threats Targeting Drag Shows & Pride Festivals:
- On June 8, 2024, a bomb threat targeting a drag story hour was reported at the Seward Community Library & Museum in Alaska. The day before, an individual had stolen the “Welcome to Seward Pride” sign from the front of the building.
- On June 14, 2024, a bomb threat targeting a drag queen story hour was reported at the Copper Queen Library in Bisbee, Arizona. Another bomb threat was also reported, targeting the personal address of the library manager.
- On June 26, 2024, a bomb threat against a drag queen story hour was reported at Books Inc. in the Pruneyard Shopping Center in Campbell, California.
Extremist Activity:
- On June 2, 2024, two members of the White Lives Matter network held an anti-LGBTQ banner protesting the Pride festival being held at Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois.
- On June 7, 2024, an individual spray-painted swastikas and anti-gay slurs in the parking lot at Riverview Park in Lake Station, Illinois. The incident the week after the city’s first Pride event.
- On June 17, 2024, an individual made anti-LGBTQ remarks while advocating for a book ban, followed by a “Heil Hitler” salute during the Alpena County Board of Commissioners committee meeting in Michigan.
- On June 29, 2024, a dozen members of Patriot Front marched at Zanesville Pride in Ohio. Protestors carried the group’s flag and shouted about “God and liberty” through a bullhorn. Another group of protestors appeared at the event later in the day, with a banner that read, “Fight Against White Replacement” and shouted racist slurs.
Attacks on Pride Symbols:
- On June 4, 2024, an individual opened fire with a pellet gun at a window displaying a Pride flag at the Newberg Public Library in Newberg, Oregon. The window was shattered in the attack.
- On June 6, 2024, individuals stole at least six Pride flags from residential homes in Arvada, Colorado, while occasionally banging on the windows to yell anti-gay slurs. Three days later, two people stole Pride flags from homes in nearby Lakewood, leaving one homeowner a note with racist and homophobic slurs. The thefts started three days after the Colorado GOP tweeted, “Burn all the #pride flags this June.”
Burn all the #pride flags this June. https://t.co/AqwnudUpYq pic.twitter.com/lLeJMtrhR1
— Colorado Republican Party (@cologop) June 3, 2024
- On June 9, 2024, individuals stole multiple Pride flags and decorations from the Beverly Unitarian Church in Chicago, Illinois, and set them on fire on the church’s lawn.
- On June 13, 2024, an individual stole and damaged at least 160 Pride flags at the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan, New York. The monument commemorates the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 that revolutionized the LGBTQ rights movement.
- On June 22, 2024, an individual spray painted an anti-gay slur over a Pride sign outside the College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“Our data shows heightened harassment and physical violence against LGBTQ people, which is horrifying and related to the overall hostile climate fomented by a few fringe extremists. Attacks and threats on Pride symbols and events are meant to intimidate, harass, erase and silence LGBTQ people and our allies, but they are largely unsuccessful,” said GLAAD CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis.
“More people are attending Prides, more companies are sponsoring Prides, more communities are organizing and hosting Prides because they are amazing ways to show solidarity and support for all in the community and especially to express a community’s values of welcome, safety, diversity and acceptance.”