It’s Pride month across the nation, and though C-U celebrates PrideFest in September when the students are around, that doesn’t mean you can’t and shouldn’t do a little recognition this month. This year is extra meaningful, as it’s the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. They are the reason Pride is celebrated every year in June.
As I was strolling through The Idea Store yesterday, I was seeing rainbows everywhere. Fun fact: the original Pride flag was inspired by Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” and was created by Gilbert Baker. It originally included hot pink and turquoise, but has since been streamlined to the standard colors of the rainbow, and several other incarnations have now been created, represented various parts of the LGBTQ+ community. In the original flag, each color was assigned a meaning:
Hot pink = Sex
Red = Life
Orange = Healing
Yellow = Sunlight
Green = Nature
Turquoise = Magic/Art
Indigo = Serenity
Violet = Spirit
If these photos inspire you to create, The Idea Store will be teaming up with The UP Center to bring some DIY Pride crafting to the Urbana Free Library on June 13th from 7 to 8:30 p.m. All ages are welcome, and there will be multiple projects to try.
Photos by Julie McClure