Students Share Their Thoughts on Pride Month

Portraits of Aster Li, Eric Warren and Melody Palmer
From left, Aster Li, Eric Warren and Melody Palmer. (Photos by Tayana Romulus)

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 20, 2023) — June is Pride Month, a federal designation that began in 1999 to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots 30 years earlier. The riots, which began with a police raid on a gay bar in New York City, were a catalyst in the push for equal rights for the LGBTQ community.

Beyond parades and celebrations, Pride Month is meant to honor the accomplishments and contributions of the queer community, and to continue the ongoing fight for equal rights and protections as well as recognition and respect.

“UAlbany strives to be a place where we embrace and respect our various identities and the intersections between and among those identities; sincerely live our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; and continue to cultivate a campus climate in which respect and inclusivity are not just expected but embraced,” Samuel Caldwell, UAlbany’s chief diversity officer and associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, said in his statement to the campus community about Pride Month.

A few UAlbany students reflect on what Pride Month means to them in this photo essay by Tayana Romulus, a senior communication major with a minor in fine arts.

Aster Li 

Aster Li poses in a yellow tank top and black jacket
​Aster Li, Class of 2023, past president of the UAlbany Pride Alliance

“Pride month is important to me because it’s a month that allows me to be extra loud and extra proud. It’s a month to celebrate because the community fought to be here, and we should take time to give that history its recognition. I would love to see more focus around difficult topics that should be addressed such as transphobia within the community, and bi-erasure. Pride Month should not only be focused around celebrating it should also be used to make change happen.”  

Eric Warren 

Eric Warren in a striped shirt with bottons on the pocket reading "they" and "he"
Eric Warren, Class of 2023, trans outreach coordinator and graduate assistant for the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center

“Pride month is important because it highlights the work that the community has done historically, and what we are doing now. It is a time to honor those who have been a part of the fight for our rights. It is a time to honor ourselves and show others that we are here. I love finding new people, local creators, and businesses to connect with, and I love being able to be a visible role model for others. I love being able to see the community come together to spread joy in the face of all the hate that has and is going on. I would love to see businesses, especially large corporations, make larger initiatives outside of pride month, including making substantial donations to LGBTQ+ organizations. These corporations make so much money from rainbow capitalism but hardly donate back to the community.” 

Melody Palmer  

Melody Palmer in overalls and a striped shirt, stands in front of a book case
Melody Palmer, Class of 2025, Connections peer educator at the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center

“Pride month is important to me because queer identities deserve to be celebrated and humanized, especially given the recent rise of anti-LGBTQ sentiment in the government. Celebrating our identities is extremely important because it helps to normalize our identities and promote acceptance. Pride month is full of queer people celebrating being queer because queer joy is revolutionary in a world that doesn’t want us to be celebrated and aims to suppress and silence us. Pride month should be a celebration of our identities while also recognizing the work left to be done. I’d like to see Pride Month incorporate more activism and recognition of both our progress and work that lies ahead in the fight for queer rights. Corporations also tend to capitalize and commodify Pride Month for their own corporate interests which goes against what Pride stands for. I’d like to see Pride Month celebrations focus more on community action and mutual aid for queer people in our own communities.”