Theme Ride Thursday: Pride Anthems

June is Pride Month, which was chosen to commemorate the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village that occurred at the end of June 1969. This uprising marked the beginning of a movement to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices against LGBTQ Americans.

While Gay Pride Day was initially celebrated on the last Sunday in June, it has now grown into a month-long celebration of events. LGBTQ Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Pride events are geared toward anyone who feels like their sexual identity falls outside the mainstream—although many straight people join in too.

And if you’re wondering where the “Pride” came from, Brenda Howard, a bisexual New York activist nicknamed the “Mother of Pride,” organized the first Pride parade to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.

The rainbow flag made popular by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker consists of six stripes—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet—and the red stripe is at the top.

If you’re planning a Gay Pride ride, please check out this playlist, which includes disco classics to today’s tracks. Some of our favorites are George Michael’s “Freedom! ’90,” Gossip’s “Heavy Crosses,” and “Free” by Ultra Nate. And let’s not forget classics like “Vogue” by Madonna, “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” by Sylvester, “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls, and anything by Scissor Sisters, “Let’s Have a Kiki” being one of my favorites. 

And if you’re wondering what a “kiki” is, it’s is a term that grew out of Black American gay social culture, and is loosely defined as a gathering of friends for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat.

 

3 Comments

  1. Thanks for all of the great song selections. I have one to add that I’m using as my stretching song, it’s “Boys in the Street” by Greg Holden.

  2. Thanks for this! I have been planning a pride ride, but there is so much great music ill probably have to sprinkle some songs in all month! I also found ‘Bold’ by Mary Lambert-beat translates to 75 RPM and I use it as part of a warm up ramp. One of my participants also recommended “to The Limit’ by Joan Armatrading. The beat is 107, so I use it when I’m letting them choose their preferred cadence for a flat road effort. Looking forward to checking out the rest of your list!

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