Celebrating LGBTQIA Pride Month at the library

LGBTQIA Pride Month (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex and Allies) is celebrated each June across the country in the form of parades, festivals, and other events in recognition of the Stonewall riots in Manhattan, which took place in 1969 from June 28 through July 1. Also, on June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report about a mysterious illness that was killing young gay men and eventually became known as HIV/AIDS. Each year this date serves as both a remembrance for those who lost their lives to the AIDS epidemic, as well as celebrating those survivors who have defied the odds by living with HIV for decades.

Learn more about the LGBTQI community and HIV/AIDS at your Manatee County Public Library System. The struggle of the LGBTQI community for acceptance and equality is recounted in books like Lillian Faderman’s, “The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle” and Ann Bausum’s, “Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights,” which relates the history of the Stonewall riots, considered to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights. Nancy Garden’s, “Hear Us Out!: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present,” is a collection of stories of people who grew up gay during the conservative 1950s, and how their lives evolved over the years. “The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism” by Adrian Brooks, is a comprehensive account of people and events, past and present, related to LGBTQI activism. This eBook is available through the library’s Hoopla database, along with other LGBT-related materials, from fiction to streaming videos.

Educate yourself about HIV/AIDS with books like, “How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS” by David France, a new history of the battle to halt the AIDS epidemic. There are also books on how to live with being HIV-positive, like “HIV/AIDS: Practical, Medical, and Spiritual Guidelines for Daily Living When You’re HIV-Positive” by Mark Jenkins. Other books are written about HIV-positive people, such as Judd Winick’s “Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned.” Told entirely in sequential art, Winick talks about his friend Pedro Zamora, an AIDS activist who helped change public attitudes about the nature of AIDS. Winick recounts how Zamora handled the disease with dignity and humor. Zamora died in 1994 at the age of 22.

Movies have also explored the subject of AIDS and how it affects the lives of those who have contracted it, as well as their family and friends. The library has a selection of some of the most powerful explorations of the topic for the screen, including “Philadelphia” (1994), with an Oscar-winning performance from Tom Hanks, and “Longtime Companion” (1990), with Bruce Davison and Dermot Mulroney. The latter is a drama centering on a group of friends during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Celebrating LGBTQIA Pride Month at the library."