Color Splash Out

Today, we celebrate all who fill a fatherly role in the lives of others. Dads, stepdads, grandfathers, chosen family, mentors, caregivers, and any father figures who offer love, guidance, support, and strength.

We also recognize that today can be complicated. We hold space for those who are missing their fathers, grieving, navigating difficult relationships, longing to become parents, or carrying other emotions this day may bring.

Families come in many forms, and love is what makes them strong. To everyone who nurtures, protects, teaches, and shows up for the people they care about: thank you.

Wishing you a day filled with love, connection, and care.

Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas.

Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long been celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.


Source: https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth

Image Description: Red-orange gradient background with the text Juneteenth Freedom Day. The J is a fist.

June 15, 2020: The Supreme Court rules in Bostock v. Clayton County that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ+ employees from discrimination based on s*xual orientation or gender identity.

Image Description: Pride flag shaped heart behind text that says "This Week in LGBTQ History". Various hands at the bottom holding different Pride flags.

We remember - 10 yrs PULSE never forget

The “Loving” in Loving Day is actually the last name of Mildred and Richard Loving. The Loving Day Story begins when they were arrested for being married in 1958 because they were an in*******al couple living in Virginia.

Nine years after their arrest, the Lovings won their case on June 12th, 1967 (which is why Loving Day is on June 12th). It was more than a victory for their family. It struck down all state laws against in*******al marriage in the U.S.

Source: https://lovingday.org/

Image Description: Photo of Mildred and Richard Loving on a pink background. Heart banner and the text Loving Day at the top.

In late 2023, the City of Orlando purchased the Pulse site and is committed to taking a thoughtful, collaborative approach to understand the history of the effort to create a memorial up until this point.

Pulse wasn’t just a place. It was a community. It was a family.

Pulse was a cherished LGBTQIA+ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that was safe and inclusive, where everyone was welcomed and could be their true selves. Pulse was a place of joy, belonging and friendship. Pulse symbolized the power of community and of chosen family.

On June 12, 2016 at 2:02 a.m., nearly 300 individuals were celebrating Latin Night in the nightclub when those feelings of safety and of belonging were shattered forever.

At the time, it was the largest mass shooting in U.S. history and took the lives of 49 angels, while leaving dozens injured, a city that was heartbroken and a nation and the world grieving with and for Orlando and those impacted.

All too often, tragedies such as this can divide a community. But not in Orlando. The victims’ families, survivors, first responders, trauma teams, political leaders, community advocates and those mourning for our neighbors chose to show the world that our community was, and still is, Orlando United.

Image Description: Blue and Purple Gradient background with Pulse Remembrance Day at the top. Underneath is a list of all of the name of those fallen during the shooting with a pride banner that says Remembering the 49 angels. June 12, 2016. The names are Stanley Almodovar III, Amanda L. Alvear, Oscar A. Aracena Montero, Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, Antonio Davon Brown, Darryl Roman Burt II, Angel Candelario-Padro, Juan Chavez Martinez, Luis Daniel Conde, Cory James Connell, Tevin Eugene Crosby, Deonka Deidra Drayton, Simón Adrian Carrillo Fernández, Leroy Valentin Fernandez, Mercedez Marisol Flores, Peter Ommy Gonzalez Cruz, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Paul Terrell Henry, Frank Hernandez, Miguel Angel Honorato, Javier Jorge Reyes, Jason Benjamin Josaphat, Eddie Jamal Droy Justice, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla, Christopher Andrew Leinonen, Alejandro Barrios Martinez, Brenda Marquez McCool, Gilberto R. Silva Menendez, Kimberly Jean Morris, Akyra Monet Murray, Luis Omar Ocasio Capo, Geraldo A. Ortiz Jimenez, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jean Carlos Mendez Perez,
Enrique L. Rios, Jr., Jean Carlos Nieves Rodríguez, Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Yilmary Rodríguez Solivan, Edward Sotomayor, Jr., Shane Evan Tomlinson, Martin Benitez Torres, Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, Juan Pablo Rivera Velázquez, Luis Sergio Vielma, Franky Jimmy DeJesus Velázquez, Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, Jerald Arthur Wright

On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others at Pulse, a beloved LGBTQ+ nightclub in Orlando, Florida, during Latin Night. June 12 is now internationally recognized as Pulse Night of Remembrance, a day dedicated to mourning those lost, supporting survivors, and honoring the resilience of q***r communities of color.

Image Description: Pride flag shaped heart behind text that says "This Week in LGBTQ History". Various hands at the bottom holding different Pride flags.

One year after Stonewall, people commemorated the uprising with marches in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The phrase “gay pride” was also brand-new that year, coined by activists as a shorthand to unite the events planned as part of the fledgling movement. In 1971, pride went worldwide, with parades and demonstrations taking place in West Berlin, London, Paris and Stockholm.

Gilbert Baker, who described himself as the “gay Betsy Ross,” created the first pride flag from strips of fabric dyed in trash cans in the attic of San Francisco’s Gay Community Center before the city’s 1978 pride parade. Each of the flag’s original eight colors had a meaning: pink for s*x, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for peace, and purple for spirit.

Image Description: Pride flag shaped heart behind text that says "This Week in LGBTQ History". Various hands at the bottom holding different Pride flags.