What is Pride month? And why is it important to Fenton?

Here at Fenton, Pride Month is a pretty big deal. 

This month (and really every other month of the year) our mission is to raise awareness, promote inclusivity and challenge existing thoughts and opinions around the LGBTQ+ community. 

What is Pride Month?

Pride month is a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, love, friendship and queer culture. 

Throughout the month the movement calls upon people to share their stories, teach tolerance, educate others on Pride history and push forward equality. 

Where did Pride come from?

Gay Pride commemorates the Stonewall Riots, which began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighbourhood. 

Pride typically involves a series of events and is often capped by a parade involving marchers and colourful floats from the LGBTQ+ community and its supporters.

Before the Stonewall riots, LGBTQ+ individuals had typically not broadcast their sexual orientation or identity, but the event galvanized the gay community and sparked greater political activism. In 1970, on the first anniversary of the riots, several hundred demonstrators marched along Greenwich Village’s Christopher Street, which runs past the Stonewall, in what many consider the first Gay Pride march (though other commemorations were also held that year).

In 1978 what is perhaps the most-recognized symbol of Gay Pride made its debut at the San Francisco event: the rainbow flag. The flag, with its eight colours (sexuality symbolized by hot pink, life by red, healing by orange, the sun by yellow, nature by green, art by blue, harmony by indigo, and spirit by violet), was designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker and has been adopted worldwide. The following year a six-colour flag, which is in common use today, appeared. A further update was made in 2017, and debuted at Philadelphia Pride that year. It incorporates the colours from the trans flag alongside a brown and a black stripe to symbolise the diversity of the community and the black trans women who where integral in the gay rights movement.

Fenton exists to celebrate love. All love.

Fenton is founded upon the belief that all love is equal. There was and still is a lack of diversity when it comes to the portrayal of love across society , but particularly when it comes to engagements and weddings. 

And we want to change that. We are proud to be championing an inclusive community and highlighting stories which proudly do not conform. Whether thats sharing our wonderful LGBTQ+ customer stories on our instagram,  featuring a same sex couple in our paid ads, or sharing empowering stories around love.

We stand with the LGBTQ+ community every day of the year, but we want to take this moment to highlight the movement, why it exists and what still needs to be done. This is something which is not only the right thing to do, but also a mission which is deeply personal to us as a brand and as a team.

Our hope is to be pioneers in this space. Driving real change across an industry largely stuck in the past, so that one day, every one of us can see ourselves represented within the engagement and wedding industry - a true celebration of love! 

How can you get involved?

As a member of our Fenton community, whether you’re an ‘L’, ‘G’, ‘B’, ‘T’, ‘Q’ ‘+’ or an ally we would love you to get involved with the campaign!

1. You can share your ‘love’ story with us - just slide into our IG DMs. Whether that be love for a partner, or a journey of self love. We want to hear from you. 
2. Show your support - through liking, commenting and sharing our content, to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ love, what Pride is and the important work which still needs to be done.
3. Help us continue the important work of breaking stereotypes, and redefining what it means to love. Don’t be afraid to challenge the people or brands around you, and educate and empower them. 
4. Send us your ideas - As a small brand we have pretty grand ambitions. We’re always looking to do more - and we would love your input!