Celebrating Pride Month 2025

Salem-Keizer Public Schools welcomes Pride Month 2025 by celebrating LGBTQ+ history and contributions.

America has recognized Pride Month for more than 25 years, and June 2025 is another year to celebrate human joy, courage and authenticity. In the words of the original 1999 Presidential proclamation, Pride month presents an opportunity to pursue “our greatest hope [for a] just society, the teaching of respect and appreciation of difference, and the recognition of the values that we hold in common.”  

In our district, we know that education cannot be separated from our human need to be seen, safe, valued and respected. The two are mutually dependent and virtuously linked. For these reasons and many more, our schools claim our LGBTQ+ community and along with them, welcomes Pride Month 2025. Let it once again inspire us to build the inclusive community we want for ourselves, our community's children and families. 
 

Pride Month Proclamation

In 2019, the Salem-Keizer School Board voted to approve the district’s first Pride Month proclamation for the district. At its June 10, 2025 meeting, the Salem-Keizer School Board will consider and vote on the annual recognition for 2025. In part, the 2025 LGBTQ2SIA+ Pride Month Proclamation the proclamation states: 

WHEREAS to recognize unique obstacles that the LGBTQIA2S+ community navigates and to provide support, the district has implemented policies and procedures to improve inclusion and access for our K-12 students and staff; and 

WHEREAS those obstacles LGBTQIA2S+ youth face include but are not limited to higher rates of bullying, violence and harassment, higher rates of attempting suicide, increased likelihood to be unhoused, experiencing discriminatory policies and less access to safe spaces 

History of LGBTQ+ Pride Month

Pride Month is celebrated each June to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, which began on June 28, 1969. That night, New York City police officers raided The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a bar where members of the LGBTQ+ community often gathered. Since homosexuality was considered a criminal offense at the time, raids like this were unfortunately common. However, on this historic night, bar patrons and community members banded together to resist the raid. The resulting clash continued for six days, marking a turning point in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality as activists demanded the right to exist and live openly without fear of arrest.