June is Pride Month! This year, we’ll virtually celebrate LGBTQ+ history, resilience, solidarity, and love.
Whether you’re planning remote movie nights or hoping to feel connected with LGBTQ+ folks worldwide, here are some resources to honor Pride Month from home.
Watch
With your San Mateo County Libraries card, you can stream LGBTQ+ documentaries and films from Kanopy and Hoopla. Invite your friends to sync up viewings and enjoy our top Pride movie picks.
Before Stonewall and After Stonewall
In the early morning of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Uprising sparked an unapologetic fight for LGBTQ+ rights. These paired documentaries illuminate the origins of Pride Month and place Stonewall in the wider scope of LGBTQ+ history.
Winner of the 2017 Academy Award for Best Picture, Moonlight is a tender, intimate coming of age story. Graceful writing, striking cinematography, and nuanced performances make this film, notes writer Hilton Als, a “brilliant, achingly alive new work about black queerness.”
This documentary follows a transgender grandmother and her family as they strive to live their truths and maintain their bonds in Mississippi.
In this satirical cult classic, a high school cheerleader is sent to a camp claiming it can “cure” homosexuality. Needless to say, this is not the result.
Read
Your SMCL library card invites you to explore a wide selection of fiction and non-fiction by LGBTQ+ authors and/or centered on LGBTQ+ experiences.
Between Hoopla, enki, or Overdrive, you'll find the perfect classic and contemporary reads for a digital book club or an individual journey. Some suggestions to get you started:
Publisher Coffeehouse Press describes Myriam Gurba’s Mean as hybrid “true crime, memoir, and ghost story” balancing humor and formal innovation as it “takes the cost of sexual assault, racism, misogyny, and homophobia deadly seriously.”
Patricia Highsmith’s novel about two women falling in love broke lesbian literature stereotypes when published in 1952. In 2015, it served as the source material for the film Carol.
This classic novel from celebrated writer and activist James Baldwin follows an American man as he grapples with love and shame in Paris.
In Adam Silvera’s Young Adult novel about the connections that make life worth living, two teenage boys share adventure on their “End Day”—in other words, their last day alive.
Attend
Beyond the library, organizers are working to bring Pride celebrations directly to you!
San Mateo County's 8th Annual Pride Celebration, opens a new window, held virtually from June 8-13, is a space to champion inclusion and wellness for LGBTQ+ folks and allies in SMC. This virtual week dedicated to Pride has live entertainment, book talks, workshops, and more! Additionally, the San Mateo County Pride Center, opens a new window will be hosting virtually events all month long.
San Francisco Pride moved their June 27 and June 28th rallies online. Keep an eye on their website to learn about performances, speeches, and more that you can enjoy from home.
Celebrating Pride remotely also offers a unique opportunity to participate in events taking place worldwide. This year, international Pride organizations are cooperating to offer Global Pride. On June 27th, musicians, artists, speakers, and other performers will lead live streaming events for 24 hours. Learn more on the InterPride website.
Have you found other creative ways to celebrate Pride this year? We welcome your ideas—and your favorite LGBTQ+ books and films!—in the comments below.
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