How To Celebrate June Pride Month In The Howell Area

HOWELL, NJ — Pride Month continues through June with several ways in the Howell area to participate in the celebration of LGBTQ culture, rights and identity.

Among them are Red Bank's Pride in the Park event on Saturday, June 10, and Pride Night June 9 at Jersey Shore BlueClaws in Lakewood.

Here are some area events:

Red Bank: The fourth annual Pride in the Park event is Saturday, June 10, held by the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Department. Festivities begin at 1 p.m. in Riverside Gardens Park. This event is free for all attendees. There will be music and many activities. Riverside Gardens Park is at 40 W. Front St. For more information about the event or about how to get involved, contact the Recreation Department at 732-530-2782 or recreation@redbanknj.org.

Allentown: Pride Parking Lot Party; Saturday, June 24, 7 p.m. at Natural Alternatives Center for Wellness, 12 N. Main St., Allentown.

Lakewood: The Jersey Shore BlueClaws are holding Pride Night at the BlueClaws' stadium on New Hampshire Avenue and Cedar Bridge Road on Friday, June 9. The game is set for a 7 p.m. start.

In Freehold Borough, the first annual flag-raising to celebrate Pride Month took place at Borough Hall on Friday, June 2.

Pride Month occurs during June in deference to the Stonewall Uprising, a tipping point in the struggle for equality among people who identify as LGBTQ. New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common, but patrons fought back, resulting in days of violent clashes across Greenwich village.

The observance started as Gay Pride Day on the last Sunday in June, but soon grew to the point that June calendars are packed with pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts across the nation and around the world.

In New Jersey, about 4.1 percent of the population — or 343,000 people — identify as LGBTQ, according to the Movement Advance Project, which tracks legislation targets. They represent 4 percent of New Jersey's workforce, or 205,000 people.

The organization gives New Jersey 39.25 points out of a possible 43.5 points. Our state received 17.5 points out of a possible 20 for sexual orientation policy and 21.75 points out of a possible 23 for gender policy. The overall ranking was graded “HIGH.”

Pride Month 2023 occurs amid a historic surge in bills targeting LGBTQ rights, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Nearly 500 pieces of legislation nationwide have been filed in state legislatures this year, according to the ACLU tracking.

There are three bills in the state Assembly — two have corresponding state Senate bills — that address LGBTQ rights. One would allow parents who object to curriculum or learning activities in public school to receive a voucher from their school district for their child to attend a nonpublic school, the other would bar transgender students from competing in girls' or women's sports at public or nonpublic schools and colleges. A third bill has only one sponsor and no corresponding legislation in the other body. None of the bills have been heard in their respective committees.

“LGBTQ people are under fire, unlike possibly ever before and across virtually every aspect of our lives,” Logan S. Casey, a senior researcher at Movement Advancement Project, told The Washington Post in April. “This is part of a very clear and identifiable national effort in state legislatures that is and has been going on for years — and it’s really culminating this year.”

Local Editor Karen Wall contributed to this story.