Office of Access and Excellence

Celebrating Pride Month

June 1, 2026

Dear Brandeis Community,

June is Pride Month, a time for all of us to come together to celebrate and learn more about our LGBTQIA+ community.

The original organizers of Pride chose June to pay homage to the Stonewall Uprising, which helped spark the modern gay rights movement in the United States. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, forceful demonstrations by members of the LGBTQIA+ community in response to a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Pride celebrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City began in 1970, when they were organized as a political backlash against police persecution of gay and lesbian people. LGBTQIA+ community members joined forces to demand that city officials and police departments leave them in peace, demanding their right to safe gathering places. In subsequent years, Pride parades and celebrations have become key community events across the country for LGBTQIA+ folks and their allies. In many cities where the LGBTQIA+ community faced systemic discrimination, elected officials and other local leaders now march to demonstrate their support and solidarity.

Here at Brandeis, we invite you to engage with the Gender and Sexuality Center, which is a resource center for all Brandeis students interested in LGBTQIA2S+ and other issues related to gender and sexuality. We would also like to highlight our Brandeis Faculty and Staff Pride Alliance, which has been a source of support for all employees interested in LGBTQIA+ issues. Accordingly, we invite everyone to participate in Pride events sponsored by Brandeis and local communities this month.

Be Curious Bites
Pride Month and Juneteenth Edition
Shapiro Campus Center
June 17, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Join the Intercultural Center, the Center for Spiritual Life, and the Gender and Sexuality Center for another edition of Be Curious Bites! Enjoy a local food truck while learning about the history of Juneteenth and Pride Month in a bite-sized format. Students, staff, and faculty are all welcome to participate! This event will also be featured in the forthcoming message about Juneteenth.

Off-Campus Pride Events

We hope you will join us in celebrating Pride this year!

In community,

Jamie Wire
Director of the Gender and Sexuality Center

Lee Bitsóí
Vice Provost of Access and Excellence
Associate Research Professor of Health: Science, Society and Policy