Pride Month is an entire month dedicated to the uplifting of LGBTQ voices, celebration of LGBTQ culture and the support of LGBTQ rights.
It is both a commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, which was a major tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States, and a celebration of LGBTQ activism and culture.
Events
Rainbow Story Time for Tots. Celebrate love for self, others and being who you are! Picture books, songs, and rhymes. For ages 0-5 with caregivers. Saturday, June 10 at 10:00am.
Rainbow Story Time for School-Age Children. Join us for stories featuring all kinds of people and families, followed by a fun craft. Recommended for ages 5-10. Wednesday, June 14 at 3:30pm.
Pride Chalk the Walk. In the spirit of Pride Month, please join children, familiies, and volunteers from the LGBTQIA subcommittee of the Westfield High School No Place for Hate club to chalk the walk! You don’t have to be an artist to express yourself, get creative, and spread messages of inclusion. Recommended for all ages. Wednesday, June 14 at 4:15pm.
How To Be an Ally 101: Presented by Garden State Equality. Learn about LGBTQ+ issues and how you can better support LGBTQ+ friends, family, and others in our community. Presented by Damien Alan Lopez, Project Manager and Trainer at Garden State Equality. Recommended for adults and older teens. Thursday, June 29 at 7:00pm.
Books
Children
Heather Has Two Mommies (2015) by Newman, Lesléa. When Heather goes to playgroup, at first she feels bad because she has two mothers and no father, but then she learns that there are lots of different kinds of families and the most important thing is that all the people love each other.
Julian at the Wedding (2020) by Love, Jessica. Julian and his abuela are going to a wedding. Better yet, Julian is in the wedding. Weddings have flowers and kissing and dancing and cake. And this wedding also has a new friend named Marisol. It’s not long before Julian and Marisol set off for some magic and mischief of their own, and when things take an unexpected turn, the pair learns that everything is easier with a good friend by your side.
Pride : An Inspirational History Of The LGBTQ+ Movement (2022) by Caldwell, S. A. The LGBTQ+ community is so much more than rainbow flags and the month of June. In this beautifully designed dynamic book, young readers will learn about groundbreaking events, including historic pushes for equality and the legalization of same-sex marriages across the world. They will dive into the phenomenal history of queer icons from ancient times to the present and read about Harvey Milk, Marsha P. Johnson, Audre Lorde, and more. Including several personal current essays from inspiring young LGBTQ+ people, this book encourages readers to take pride in their identity and the identities of those around them.
Too Bright To See (2021) by Lukoff, Kyle. In the summer before middle school, eleven-year-old Bug must contend with best friend Moira suddenly caring about clothes, makeup, and boys; a ghost haunting; and the truth about Bug’s gender identity.
Teens
Friday I’m in Love (2023) by Garrett, Camryn. After not being able to have a sweet sixteen party, Mahalia decides to throw a coming out party to celebrate love and herself.
Last Night At The Telegraph Club (2021) by Lo, Malinda. When Lily realizes she has feelings for a girl in her math class, it threatens Lily’s oldest friendships and even her father’s citizenship status and eventually, Lily must decide if owning her truth is worth everything she has ever known.
Sorrowland (2021) by Solomon, Rivers. Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland is a genre-bending work of gothic fiction. Here, monsters aren’t just individuals but entire nations. This is a searing, seminal book that marks the arrival of a bold, unignorable voice in American fiction.
Adults
David Bowie Made Me Gay : 100 Years Of LGBT Music (2017) by Bullock, Darryl W. Explores the influence of LGBT musicians on music history, including David Bowie, Elton John, and Freddie Mercury.
Dear Senthuran : A Black Spirit Memoir (2021) by Emezi, Akwaeke. Electrifying and radically honest, animated by the same voracious intelligence that distinguishes their fiction, Dear Senthuran is a revelatory account of what it means to embody multiple spirits, to fight for survival, and to bend the world to one’s will.
Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993 (2021) by Schulman, Sarah. A groundbreaking history of ACT UP and the AIDS crisis.
Light From Uncommon Stars (2021) Aoki, Ryka. Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars, a defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot 1) (2021) by Chambers, Becky. In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers’s delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future.
Punch Me Up To the Gods (2021) by Broome, Brian. Playful, poignant and wholly original, this coming-of-age memoir about Blackness, masculinity and addiction follows the author, a poet and screenwriter, as he recounts his experiences, revealing a perpetual outsider awkwardly squirming to find his way in.