"June was first declared as LGBTQ Pride Month in 2000. Since then, June has been a time to acknowledge a positive stance against discrimination and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer /questioning (LGBTQ) people to promote their self-affirmation, dignity, equality rights, increase their visibility as a social group, build community, and celebrate sexual diversity and gender variance.

LGBTQ Pride Month is also a time to bring awareness to the experiences of the LGBTQ community. LGBTQ youth are routinely harassed because of their sexual orientation. In 2015, it was reported that out of 10,528 middle and high school students surveyed 85.2% LGBTQ students experienced verbal harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation, 57.6% felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 31.8% skipped a day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)…