This updated and expanded edition of Stonewall Honor-winning book for middle-graders on Pride and the LGBTQ-rights movement blends a history of the event with a broader look at the struggle for LGBTQ equality, along with a look at what it means to come out, what to expect at Pride events around the world, a glossary, and an explanation of gender identity.
Robin Stevenson, one of the most prolific (and terrific) authors of LGBTQ-inclusive books for toddlers through teens, says in an author’s note that she wants Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle
The book was first published in April 2016 as Pride: Celebrating Diversity and Community. The change in title reflects a larger social change. When the first edition came out, Stevenson writes, “I said that the future for LGBTQ+ people had never looked brighter.” Since then, the political climate has shifted. “While actions of governments to roll back human rights have been disheartening,” Stevenson says, “my experiences talking to young people have filled me with hope.” She’s been moved by their sense of justice and commitment to create a better world for everyone.
The new edition pulls these two strands together, with a greater focus on activism and activists than the first. It begins with a history of Pride, from pre-Stonewall LGBTQ organizations to the 1969 riots, the era of AIDS, and the more recent fight for marriage equality. The next chapter is on “Pride and Identity,” using the question of “Who Goes to Pride Events?” to launch an exploration of the various identities within the LGBTQ+ community, being an ally, and the importance of community in the first place. Particularly notable are sections on intersex identities and on “PFLAG: Parents as Allies.”
Stevenson then looks at “Pride Today,” and gives readers a sense of what to expect at Pride parades, the symbols of the LGBTQ+ community that may be found there, drag as a part of LGBTQ+ culture, and the many families with children in attendance. She also notes that while there has been much opposition to LGBTQ equality from some religious organizations, more welcoming ones are very much a part of Pride parades and other events. She even turns an eye to the Pride celebrations in small towns across the U.S. and Canada—one great photo shows rainbow-bedecked golf carts at the first Pride parade on Protection Island, British Columbia, a community of about 300 people. Commendably, too, she’s not afraid to show that even within the LGBTQ+ community, there are some who feel that Pride parades are too dominated by “white, cisgender, able-bodied gay men” and have started their own, alternative marches.
She then takes us on a trip to “Pride Around the World,” highlighting places on every continent (yes, even Antarctica), and uses that as a hook to explore LGBTQ rights and LGBTQ activists in various countries as well. A final chapter covers “Young Activists and the Future of Pride,” highlighting the achievements of GSA (gender-sexuality alliance) clubs and individual activists. She then leaves readers with a long list of “How You Can Help.”
The new edition is also sprinkled with a variety of “Queer Facts,” side boxes that offer additional information or insights, and “Proud Moments,” in-depth profiles of a variety of activists and actions. There are stories about a Pride celebration in a Kenyan refugee camp; GSA teens who organized the first Pride in Inuvik, in the Northwest Territories of Canada; a trans girl from Vancouver fighting for inclusion in schools; a family with two gay dads, one of them trans; and two gay refugees from Indonesia (whom astute readers will recognize from Stevenson’s picture book Ghost’s Journey: A Refugee Story).
Stevenson isn’t afraid to show when the story touches on her life, too. She discusses her work in support of marriage equality in Canada, talks about her feelings when attending her first Pride, and shares her coming out story as one of the “Proud Moments”—but never lets her personal experience dominate the narrative. In fact, the sheer number of people and perspectives in the book is one of its best features.
Despite the amount of information and anecdotes packed into the 168-page volume, however, Stevenson succeeds brilliantly in keeping the tone conversational and relatable. She’s pulled off this trick before, in her My Body My Choice: The Fight for Abortion Rights, which similarly combines history, current events, and a call to action. Like My Body My Choice, Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle is also a beautifully designed book, full of captivating photos. Pride bursts with rainbow colors and with the colors, joy, and determination of the people who populate its pages.
A queer mom who lives in British Columbia with her partner and their son, Stevenson is also the author of Pride Colors, a board book for tots; Kid Activists, another middle-grade nonfiction work, which explores the childhoods of activists in various civil rights movements (my review here), and numerous fiction works from early chapter books to middle-grade and teen fiction.
Pride: The Celebration and the Struggle is a dazzling book that is bound to be a much-used resource, not just for those of us forced to homeschool during the pandemic, but also for the growing number of schools teaching LGBTQ history (whether required to by law or not). It would also make a great coming-out present for a young person or a gift to a school GSA. While aimed at middle-schoolers, teens and even adults are likely to get much out of it as well. “Know your history. Shape your future,” it proclaims boldly on the back cover. There really isn’t a better reason than that to read it.
