Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month at Canoe

Honoring the history, celebrating the progress, and sitting with what’s still left to do.

Every June, cities around the world light up in rainbow colors, communities gather, and the word “Pride” takes on a meaning far bigger. But for those who are newer to it, or simply want to understand it more deeply — what is Pride Month, really? Where did it come from, why does it matter, and why does celebrating and educating around it still feel so urgent today? This year, we wanted to take a moment to explore just that.

At Canoe, we are deeply committed to cultivating an environment of safety, support, and diversity for everyone. Our NYC headquarters sits just about a mile from The Stonewall Inn — the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement — and that proximity is a daily reminder that this history isn’t distant.

Where It Started

Pride Month exists because of what happened on June 28, 1969. In the early hours of that morning, patrons of the Stonewall Inn — a gay bar in Greenwich Village — fought back against a police raid. At the time, same-sex relationships were criminalized across most of the United States. LGBTQ+ people faced routine harassment, arrest, and violence for simply existing in public. The Stonewall Inn was one of the few places they could gather at all.

The uprising that followed, led in large part by transgender women of color, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, ignited days of protests and catalyzed the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The following year, the first Gay Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago — born not from celebration but from a refusal to remain invisible.

What began as a single day of remembrance has since grown into a global month of celebration, education, and advocacy. Pride was designed as a declaration, and in many ways, it still is.

What the Numbers Say

Progress is real, and so is the work that remains. Both things are true right now.

• LGBTQ+ identification has grown by approximately 165% since 2012 — nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z adults now identify as LGBTQ+ (Coqual, 2025)
• 84% of LGBTQ+ workers are out to at least one person at their current job, up from 54% in 2018 — a meaningful shift in workplace openness (HRC, Equality Rising)
• And yet, 40% of LGBTQ+ workers have still withheld their identity at work due to fear of stigma or violence (HRC, Equality Rising)
• Nearly 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ adults reported experiencing workplace discrimination in 2024 (Center for American Progress)
• More than half of LGBTQ+ employees (58%) engage in “covering” behaviors at work to avoid harassment or discrimination, such as avoiding mentions of a partner or changing how they present themselves (Williams Institute, 2025)

Visibility and safety are not the same thing. Representation and acceptance are not the same thing. The gap between them is exactly where Pride continues to do its work — in workplaces, in legislation, in culture, and in the everyday moments that don’t make the headlines.

From Our Own Team

Progress rarely feels complete from the inside. This year, two members of our Canoe team, both part of the LGBTQ+ community, shared their answers to the same question: “What’s one thing you hope feels completely normal 10 years from now?”

One team member answered:

“Being queer. To this day, we have come so far in our progress and growth as a community. Especially in a city like New York City, the visibility and diversity we have today are things previous generations could only have dreamed of. But there’s still a gap between visibility and normalcy today. What gives me hope is the culture shift happening in real time — queer stories are finally being told on screen, not as a subplot or a tragedy, but as the whole story. Coming-of-age films and shows centered around LGBTQ+ experiences are giving younger generations a mirror that many of us never had. That matters more than people realize. But walk into certain workplaces, certain rooms, certain parts of the country/world, and the fact that someone ‘isn’t straight’ still carries weight it shouldn’t. That’s the part I’m still waiting on. Ten years from now, I hope being queer is just… another thing someone is.”

Another shared:

“Reading the comment section for a piece of queer media and seeing nothing but love and support. I always brace for the worst online, so I catch myself smiling when strangers choose to be kind with their words. It may not be tangible, but it’s real, and it heals something in me every time.”

These hopes — quiet, patient, and grounded in lived experience — are exactly what Pride Month is for. It holds the celebration and the grief together. It asks us not to look away from the parts that are still hard, even when the easier thing would be to declare victory and move on.

At Canoe, our commitment to inclusion isn’t just a month-long initiative. It’s reflected in our day-to-day work, and Pride Month gives us a moment to pause, reflect, and reaffirm what we stand for: a workplace where every person can show up fully as themselves.

Interested in joining our team? Explore open roles at Canoe.