9781422275269

the first pride parade took place to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City; it was meant to fill a specific purpose in a specific place. The rainbow flag was not a symbol for the community until the 1970s, starting in San Francisco. Although LGBTQ people around the world have adopted many of these symbols, not necessarily every culture has done so. Often when people talk about LGBTQ rights in another country, they talk about whether pride parades and gay businesses exist, as well as the status of same-sex relationships, as the measure of a society’s acceptance—for example, marriage or civil unions. Although these laws are important and can provide clues as to the quality of life for LGBTQ people, they are not the only things to consider. Take the example of the Czech Republic, in Central Europe, which is considered one of the most liberal countries, even within Europe. Despite this openness, the country did not recognize gay relationships legally until 2006, didn’t hold its first pride parade until 2011, and still hasn’t legalized gay marriage, which seems completely out of order if you’re measuring in terms of how things have progressed in some other Western countries. Different societies have different priorities and different ways of progressing, and that’s usually okay. The more limited way of measuring a country’s openness also ignores the situation for transgender people. Same-sex marriage being legal doesn’t necessarily help gender minorities if they are unable to live their lives in peace while being their authentic selves. A society, country, or culture cannot be measured on a clear scale between “accepting” and “not accepting.” It’s more complicated than that, and we should be sensitive to that as we study other cultures. An Important Pattern As you read the following chapters about different places in the world, you’ll notice how rich the diversity of peoples and cultures is.

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Introduction