Welcome to Forever Ago from APM Studios.

I'm Joy Dolo, and my co-host today is Lilika from Santa Barbara.

Hi, Lilika.

Hi, Joy.

Today, we're at a Pride celebration.

Our neighborhood is throwing a parade for everyone to enjoy.

There's floats and music and families and dancing.

Pride is a celebration of people who are queer.

Right.

Queer is a word that's often used to describe people who are gay or lesbian, which means they're attracted to people with the same gender as them.

Or it can be someone who is transgender, which means that person's gender is different from the sex they were born with.

Lilika, you wrote to us with the great idea to do an episode about the Pride flag.

What made you think of this topic?

Well, I'm really interested in LGBTQIA plus history and especially, like, how the different flags are made, and I really love all the different designs of the flag because I'm always curious about them.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you do anything special to celebrate Pride month?

Um, ooh, that's kind of a hard question.

I draw a lot, and my mom usually, like,

Target has, like, a big Pride section usually, so my mom usually just, like, goes through and just buys all of the Pride stuff.

Oh, okay.

So what is the last Pride item you bought?

A couple of weeks ago, I got a bunch of stickers.

Oh, nice, nice.

You know, I was, I had a table.

There was a Pride table at an event I was at, and they had those buttons that you kind of stick on your shirt or whatever, those, like, one buttons.

I got two of them, and I made them into earrings.

Oh, that is so cool.

Yeah, it was, like, creative Pride.

Is there a Pride parade where you live?

Um, unfortunately, no.

Not to the extent of my knowledge, at least.

Oh, boo.

You got to start one.

Yeah, I'd really love to go.

Where do you see the Pride flag in your life?

Um, there are a couple of, like, signs and Pride flags at various houses, kind of, like, on our street and the streets around us.

Okay.

Do you, does it make you feel anything when you see it?

Um, it makes me feel seen, and it makes me feel like the world is improving.

It also makes me proud, too, to, like, know that, you know, flags represent so many things in so many cultures, and to know that there's representation out there right now for LGBTQIA people, it's awesome that we can just wave our flag in front of our houses or schools or a little bumper sticker on our car.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Oh, oh, my gosh.

Look at me.

The parade is starting.

I'm so excited.

I know.

I can't wait to see our finished Pride Pride float in action.

Yeah.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm super proud of this float.

But, dang, all the floats this year are really next level.

Yeah.

Look at the community playhouse one.

We're here.

We're queer.

Get your tickets for King Lear.

I love thespians.

Oh, look.

It's the Marty's Discount Tire Gay Men's Choir.

Ah.

Their motto is, we'll sing the harmonies and save you car monies.

Cha-ching.

And there's Nico's Necktie Emporium.

Look at those rainbow streamers.

More like rain bow ties.

I love it.

Ooh.

Bubble Trouble Laundromat is here this year.

What does their sign say?

Wash, rinse, slay, repeat.

And they have a bubble cannon.

Much better than last year.

Lucia's Taqueria tried out a bean cannon.

Tasty but messy.

I was picking pintos out of my hair for weeks.

Definitely.

Man, Pride is the best.

It feels like everyone is here celebrating.

That's what it's all about.

Celebrating the freedom to be who you are and love who you love.

And show up and be seen as your whole self.

And all over this parade, on the floats, on shirts hanging from buildings, are rainbow flags.

But the rainbow flag wasn't always part of Pride celebrations.

For nearly the first 10 years of Pride, that flag didn't even exist.

Right.

It was designed to give queer people something to rally around.

A symbol to let them know they were part of a community.

Of course, queer people have always been a part of all of our communities.

In fact, throughout history, you can find examples of different cultures recognizing and celebrating queerness.

Many indigenous cultures in the Americas recognize and honor two-spirit individuals, which sometimes means people who have both masculine and feminine qualities, or people who are attracted to people with the same gender as them.

And during the Han Dynasty in China, which began over 2,000 years ago, ten emperors in a row partnered with both men and women.

In many countries, especially in the last several hundred years, it wasn't safe for people to show their queerness openly.

Let's think back to the 1950s.

Your parents would take you to school in one of those big boats of a car.

Oh yeah, you might hear some brand new music on the radio called rock and roll.

And you would not buckle your seatbelt, because there weren't any back then.

Frozen dinners served in trays with little dividers were all the rage.

Your mom would take it out of the freezer, pop it in the oven, not the microwave, because those weren't common.

And ding! Your TV dinner would be ready.

That's not where you were eating a TV for dinner.

It was most likely steak, peas, and potatoes.

It was called a TV dinner because the whole family could eat them easily in front of the TV.

The TV. The gorgeous, captivating, transfixing television.

Back then, it was probably still black and white.

The 1950s was a great time for TVs and frozen food.

But it was a terrible time for queer people.

You could be fired from your job for being queer.

Or kicked out of your apartment.

Or blocked from entering the United States if you were an immigrant.

If you were caught wearing clothes that didn't match up with your assigned gender, you could be arrested.

Being queer was even considered a mental illness.

And it wasn't just laws that discriminated against queer people.

It was common for people to lose friends or even their families for being queer.

Queer people lived in constant fear of being found out.

But fast forward about 10 years to the 1960s and things began to change.

All kinds of people were standing up for their rights.

And that big, beautiful TV sitting in the living room was showing it all.

Black people were fighting against segregation and racism.

Women were pushing for the same rights as men.

Young people were protesting against war.

By the time the 1970s rolled around, people understood how important it was for their struggles and their power to be seen.

Queer people were no exception.

Hey, speaking of TVs, there's Ernie.

Oh my god, like of Bert and Ernie?

No, from Ernie's Electronics.

Ooh, hey Ernie. Cool float.

Hey thanks. It's an LGB TV. Get it?

I'm screening a documentary about queer life in the 1970s.

It even comes with a remote. Check it out.

Okay, let me hit play.

By the time the 1970s rolled around, people understood how important it was for their struggles and their power to be seen.

Queer people were no exception.

Hey, I just said that.

The first pride marches were organized in cities across the country for June of 1970.

The queer community started new organizations, created newspapers, and even changed the laws in some cities so they could express themselves without fear of losing their jobs or housing.

That's right. And a few years later, they had a major victory when...

Joy! No one can hear my beautiful television!

And a few years later, they had a major victory when the American Psychological Association decided that being gay would no longer be considered a mental illness.

Right. Not that it ever was a mental illness, but it was good doctors were recognizing that.

And the next year, Kathy Kozachenko was elected.

Um, Lilica? Could you turn it up please? Someone keeps talking over the TV!

The next year, Kathy Kozachenko was elected to city council in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which made her the first openly gay person elected in the United States.

I cannot believe this.

I know! She was a real trailblazer.

No, I mean, I can't believe this narrator! They're stealing all my lines!

Still, every time there was a win in one part of the country, it felt like in another part, rights were being taken away.

Some cities overturned laws that protected queer people from discrimination.

And in California, one lawmaker tried to make it illegal for queer people to be public school teachers.

That's terrible!

I know. Some people had never felt safe coming out to their friends, families, and employers.

But now, things were even harder, and it made many queer people feel like they had to hide who they were again.

Wow, Joy! I had no idea you knew so much about this time!

Um, Ernie, I think the pride parade is backing up a little behind you.

Oops! You're right! See ya!

Bye, Ernie!

You